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THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 
IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE 


fV 

L S.-  ; “ 

SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 
IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  HISTORY 
OF  THEIR  CIVILISATION 


BY 

V' 

BERNARD  MOSES,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
HONORARY  PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHILE 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES  VOL.  I 


HARPER  fc?  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
1914 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  b3  Co. 
at  the  Ballantyne  Press,  Edinburgh 


PREFACE 


The  history  of  Spanish  rule  in  South  America  compre- 
hends three  periods,  each  of  which  has  its  peculiar  char- 
acter, but  they  cannot  be  exactly  separated  by  definite 
dates.  The  first  is  characterised  by  voyages  of  discovery 
and  exploring  expeditions,  and  may  be  said  to  extend 
from  1492  to  1550.  The  second  is  marked  by  the  organi- 
sation and  development  of  political  societies  dependent 
on  Spain,  and  lies  between  1550  and  1730  ; while  the  third 
period  extends  from  this  last  date  to  the  battle  of  Aya- 
cucho,  in  1824,  and  is  especially  distinguished  by  the 
increasing  social  importance  of  the  creoles  and  mestizos, 
the  disastrous  effects  of  Spain’s  commercial  policy,  the 
decline  of  loyalty  to  the  mother  country,  and  the  suc- 
cessful struggle  for  independence. 

This  book  aims  to  present  an  account  of  the  second, 
or  middle,  period.  It  treats  of  the  beginnings  of  Euro- 
pean civilisation  in  widely  separated  regions  of  South 
America,  and  sets  forth  some  of  the  characteristic  events 
associated  with  the  slow  development  of  colonial  com- 
munities. The  early  voyages  of  discovery  and  the  ex- 
ploring expeditions,  which  give  a certain  romantic  quality 
to  the  history  of  the  first  period,  are  here  brought  into 
view  only  in  so  far  as  they  led  to  the  establishment  of 
European  settlements.  The  period  with  which  these 
volumes  deal  ends  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  which  witnessed  a change  in  the  ideas  and 
aspirations  of  the  colonists,  when  the  rising  class  of 
creoles  and  mestizos,  aroused  by  the  obstacles  placed  by 
the  government  in  the  way  of  their  progress,  and  by  their 


vi  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


exclusion  from  important  offices,  began  to  inquire  how 
they  might  cast  off  the  restrictions  that  seemed  to  con- 
demn them  to  perpetual  stagnation  and  dependence. 
The  history  of  the  rise  of  this  class,  the  development  of 
a mestizo-creole  public  opinion,  and  the  series  of  events 
by  which  the  dependencies  were  transformed  into  inde- 
pendent states,  constitute  a subject  demanding  a separate 
and  independent  treatment.  If  the  events  considered  in 
these  volumes  are  generally  less  attractive  than  the  ad- 
ventures of  the  early  explorers,  or  lack  somewhat  of  the 
dramatic  unity  of  the  history  of  the  third  period,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  to  these  events,  representing  the  origins  and 
fundamental  institutions  of  a new  society,  that  one  must 
refer  if  he  would  elucidate  the  civilisation  of  the  nations 
that  succeeded  the  colonial  dependencies. 

In  the  years  embracing  the  author’s  study  of  Spanish- 
American  affairs,  certain  results  of  his  investigations 
have  been  printed  in  the  Yale  Review,  the  University  of 
California  Chronicle,  the  Papers  of  the  American  His- 
torical Association,  and  two  small  volumes  called  The 
Establishment  of  Spanish  Rule  in  America,  and  South 
America  on  the  Eve  of  Emancipation.  Some  pages,  as 
well  as  isolated  paragraphs,  taken  from  these  publica- 
tions, have  been  revised,  or  rewritten,  and  embodied  in 
the  text  of  these  volumes. 

Within  the  field  of  almost  every  general  subject  of 
European  history,  there  are  numerous  monographs  which 
are  the  products  of  special  investigations  made  under  the 
influence  of  enlightened  criticism.  These  are  important 
for  the  writer  who  would  give  an  account  of  an  extended 
period.  With  only  a limited  number  of  such  monographs 
treating  of  topics  within  the  field  covered  by  this  book, 
it  may  seem  to  be  too  early  to  attempt  to  offer  an  accept- 
able general  view  of  the  foundation  and  development  of 
Spain’s  dependencies  in  South  America ; but  it  is,  per- 
haps, not  too  early  to  present  such  an  account  as  will 
exhibit  the  character  of  the  period,  indicate  the  principal 


PREFACE 


vii 

events  in  the  growth  of  the  new  communities,  and  call 
attention  to  some  of  the  topics  that  require  a more  ela- 
borate treatment  than  could  be  given  to  them  in  this 
general  introduction  to  the  history  of  the  civilisation 
that  has  been  evolved  in  the  Spanish  states  of  South 
America. 


Paris,  August  1914. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 


CHAPTER  I 


Castilla  de  Oro  ........ 

I.  The  governorship  of  Santo  Domingo.  II.  The  expeditions  of 
Ojeda  and  Nicueza.  III.  The  discovery  of  the  Pacific. 
IV.  Pedro  Arias  Davila.  V.  Letter  of  Vasco  Nunez  de 
Balboa  to  the  king.  VI.  Pedrarias’  hostility  to  Vasco 
Nunez. 


CHAPTER  II 

Exploration  and  Settlement  of  New  Andalucia 

I.  Pearl-fishing  and  the  slave-trade.  II.  The  early  missions. 
III.  Ocampo’s  campaign.  IV.  Las  Casas'  colony.  V. 
Sedeno.  VI.  Diego  de  Ordaz  and  the  exploration  of  the 
Orinoco.  VII.  Diego  Francisco  de  Serpa. 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Founding  of  Santa  Marta  and  Cartagena  . 

I.  The  expedition  of  Bastidas.  II.  Vadillo  as  governor.  III. 
Lerma’s  administration  and  his  interim  successor.  IV. 
Heredia  the  founder  of  Cartagena.  V.  The  pillaging  ex- 
pedition to  the  graves  of  Zenu  in  1534. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Welser  Company  in  Venezuela  . . . . 

I.  The  contract  of  1528.  II.  The  slave-trade.  III.  Ambrosius 
Ehinger  governor.  IV.  Arrival  of  Federmann  at  Coro. 
V.  Governor  Ehinger’s  second  expedition  and  death.  VI. 
Conflict  of  factions  at  Coro.  VII.  Federmann  and  Hoher- 
mut  von  Speier.  VIII.  Von  Hutten’s  expedition.  IX. 
Carvajal. 


X THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  V 

Progress  of  Venezuela  after  the  Welser  Episode  . 80 

I.  The  founding  of  cities.  II.  Miguel,  the  negro  king.  III. 
Fajardo’s  projects  and  campaigns.  IV.  Caracas  made  the 
capital.  V.  Rojas’  misgovernment.  VI.  Excesses  of  Le- 
guisamon.  VII.  Evidence  of  Venezuela's  progress. 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Invasion  of  Peru  and  the  Overthrow  of  the 

Incas 93 

1.  Pizarro’s  agreement  with  Almagro  and  Luque.  II.  The 
invasion  of  Peru.  III.  Benalclzar’s  campaign  to  Quito. 

CHAPTER  VII 

Rivalry  of  Spanish  Leaders  . . . . .106 

I.  The  intervention  of  Alvarado.  II.  The  extension  of  Pizarro’s 
territory  and  the  grant  to  Almagro.  III.  The  dispute 
about  Cuzco. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Quesada’s  Expedition  to  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota  . . 12 1 

I.  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Lugo.  II.  Quesada  and  his  march  to 
the  highlands.  III.  The  Chibchas.  IV.  The  campaigns 
on  the  plateau  and  the  founding  of  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota. 

V.  The  meeting  of  Quesada,  Benalcazar,  and  Federmann. 

CHAPTER  IX 

Exploration  and  Settlement  in  the  Interior  of  New 

Granada  .........  143 

I.  Vadillo’s  expedition  to  the  Cauca  Valley.  II.  Andagoya’s 
governorship  and  Robledo’s  explorations.  III.  The  found- 
ing of  Timana.  IV.  Perez  de  Quesada’s  search  for  El 
Dorado.  V.  Luis  de  Lugo  governor.  VI.  Benalcdzar, 
Heredia,  Armendariz,  and  the  audiencia  of  Bogotd. 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Foundation  of  Lima 157 

I.  The  municipality  of  Jauja.  II.  The  search  for  a site  for  the 
capital.  III.  First  acts  of  the  cabildo  of  Lima.  IV.  The 
first  bishop,  Loayza,  and  other  ecclesiastics.  V.  Later 
ordinances. 


CONTENTS 


xi 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  Conquest  of  Chile 

I.  The  early  services  of  Aguirre  and  Valdivia.  II.  Valdivia’s 
expedition  to  Chile.  III.  Settlements  in  Tucuman. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Early  Settlers  of  Rio  de  la  Plata  . 

I.  Solis  and  Cabot.  II.  Mendoza’s  settlement  at  Buenos  Aires. 
III.  The  foundation  of  Asuncion  in  Paraguay.  IV.  The 
chronicle  of  the  governors  of  Asuncion. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  New  Laws  and  Civil  War 

I.  Early  phases  of  the  system  of  encomiendas.  II.  The  New 
Laws.  III.  Gonzalo  Pizarro’s  rebellion  and  civil  war. 
IV.  Mission  of  Pedro  de  la  Gasca. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Council  of  the  Indies  and  the  India  House 

I.  The  Council  of  the  Indies.  II.  The  organisation  and  func- 
tions of  the  India  House,  or  Casa  de  Contratacion. 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  Audiencia  and  the  Viceroy  . 

I.  The  audiencia.  II.  The  viceroy. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

New  Granada  under  an  Audiencia  . . . . 

I.  The  establishment  of  the  audiencia.  II.  The  Benalcazar- 
Robledo  episode.  III.  The  creation  of  the  archbishopric 
of  New  Granada.  IV.  The  archbishop  and  the  synod  of 
1556.  V.  The  panic  caused  by  the  exploits  of  Lope  de 
Aguirre.  VI.  The  conflict  between  civilians  and  ecclesi- 
astics. VII.  The  Archbishop  of  Bogota.  VIII.  The  pre- 
sident-governor and  captain-general. 


PAGE 

I69 


188 


204 


230 


263 


276 


xii  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  XVII 

Giron’s  Rebellion  and  the  Reign  of  the  Marquis  of 

Canete 302 

I.  Ecclesiastical  changes.  II.  Anarchy.  III.  Giron’s  rebellion. 

IV.  Andres  Hurtado  de  Mendoza  and  Sairi-Tupac. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Reign  of  Viceroy  Francisco  de  Toledo  . . 318 

I.  The  formation  of  Indian  towns.  II.  The  Yanaconas.  III. 

The  Mita.  IV.  The  execution  of  Tupac  Amaru.  V.  The 
use  of  mercury  in  the  reduction  of  silver  ore.  VI.  The 
University  of  San  Marcos.  VII.  The  establishment  of  the 
Inquisition. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Inquisition  in  Cartagena 338 

I.  The  establishment  of  the  tribunal.  II.  Early  cases  tried. 

III.  Internal  controversy  and  witchcraft. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Valdivia’s  Successors  and  the  Araucanian  War  . 350 

I.  The  question  of  the  governorship  of  Chile.  II.  The  Arau- 
canian war.  III.  Garcia  Hurtado  de  Mendoza  as  governor, 
and  his  treatment  of  Aguirre  and  Villagra.  IV.  Villagra 
governor  of  Chile.  V.  Successes  of  the  Indians. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

The  Inquisition  in  Chile 364 

I . The  trial  of  Alonso  de  Escobar.  II.  Calderon  the  commissary 
for  Chile.  III.  Autos-de-fi  and  foreign  heretics.  IV.  In- 
crease in  the  number  of  Jews.  V.  Controversies  provoked 
by  the  Inquisition. 


CONTENTS 


xiii 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Viceroyalty  of  Peru  in  the  Last  Decades  of 

the  Sixteenth  Century 381 

I.  The  third  provincial  council  of  Lima.  II.  Sarmiento  and 
Cavendish  in  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  III.  Prosperity. 

IV.  Anti-alcabala  riots  in  Quito.  V.  Carvajal’s  monopoly 
of  the  post. 


INTRODUCTION 


The  constitutional  governments  of  the  Spanish  kingdoms 
were  early  superseded  by  the  rule  of  kings  who  neglected 
the  Cortes  and  resorted  to  the  devices  of  absolute  mon- 
archs.  But  the  absolutism  of  the  Spanish  kings  differed 
from  the  arbitrary  power  exercised  by  the  rulers  of  other 
European  states  in  this  period.  In  England,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  and  the  German  kingdoms,  the  movement  to- 
wards absolutism  came  after  the  Protestant  Revolution 
had  weakened  the  authority  of  the  Church  in  relation  to 
the  affairs  of  the  State.  But  in  Spain  the  movement  fell 
within  the  years  marked  by  the  crusade  against  the  Jews 
and  the  Moors,  when  the  king  and  the  priests  were  urged 
to  action  by  a common  motive,  and  .when  the  aim  of 
governmental  activity  was  not  determined  by  economic 
considerations,  but  by  the  desire  to  realise  in  Spain  the 
designs  of  the  Church,  involving  the  unity  of  faith  and  the 
consolidation  of  ecclesiastical  power.  The  Spanish  kings 
became,  therefore,  rather  the  champions  of  ecclesiasti- 
cism  than  the  defenders  of  the  temporal  interests  of 
the  nation. 

The  long  wars  against  the  Mohammedans  merged  the 
interests  of  the  Church  in  the  interests  of  the  Crown,  and 
often  made  it  impossible  afterwards  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  civil  and  the  ecclesiastical  functions.  These 
wars  also  kept  alive  the  fanatical  zeal  of  the  nation,  and 
gave  an  ecclesiastical  colouring  to  all  great  public  under- 
takings. In  this  view  it  is  significant  that  the  discovery 
of  America  was  contemporaneous  with  the  fall  of  Granada. 
The  discovery  of  a new  world  occupied  by  a non-Christian 

VOL.  i.  xv  b 


xvi  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


people,  at  a time  when  the  heroic  efforts  to  suppress  the 
Moorish  infidel  had  been  crowned  with  success,  appeared 
to  the  Spaniards  as  evidence  that  they  were  the  instru- 
ments preferred  by  Providence  in  extending  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  on  earth.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the 
exploration  and  occupation  of  America  should  assume, 
to  a certain  extent,  the  character  of  a crusade.  If  the 
conduct  of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Spanish  conquest 
in  America  does  not  seem  to  illustrate  one’s  idea  of  the 
character  of  soldiers  of  the  Cross,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  campaigns  of  the  Crusaders,  whether  in  Palestine 
or  Spain,  were  often  marked  by  great  and  unnecessary 
cruelty,  and  that,  in  America,  by  reason  of  the  great  dis- 
tance and  the  lack  of  communication,  there  were  many 
opportunities  for  the  agents  to  depart  from  the  intentions 
of  their  principal,  the  king.  And  the  cruelty  and  ex- 
cesses, of  which  the  Indians  of  America  were  the  victims, 
cannot  be  charged  wholly  to  the  king  and  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  but  chiefly  to  the  unprincipled  adventurers, 
who  undertook  the  task  of  making  conquests  and  settle- 
ments in  America  ; for,  removed  from  the  immediate 
control  of  the  Crown,  they  could  and  did  violate  its  orders 
with  impunity.  They  disregarded  the  commands  of 
their  superiors,  and  sought  their  own  interests,  without 
giving  much  attention  to  the  effect  of  their  conduct  on 
the  natives. 

In  the  early  decades  of  this  period,  Spain  stood,  in 
relation  to  the  other  nations  of  Europe,  higher  econo- 
mically than  she  had  ever  stood  before  or  has  ever  stood 
since.  Between  1482  and  1700  her  population  declined 
from  about  ten  millions  to  six  millions,  and  there  was  a 
corresponding  decline  in  her  economic  affairs.  One  of 
the  signs  of  Spain’s  decay  was  the  decline  of  her  agri- 
culture. Foreseeing  the  evil  here  impending,  the  govern- 
ment undertook  to  exempt  from  seizure  animals  and  im- 
plements employed  in  cultivation,  except  under  certain 
prescribed  conditions.  The  Council  of  Castile,  giving  an 


INTRODUCTION 


XVII 


account  of  the  state  of  the  realm  in  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  declared  that  the  agricultural  dis- 
tricts were  becoming  deserted,  and  the  inhabitants  were 
disappearing  and  leaving  the  fields  abandoned.  The 
depression  of  agriculture  was  further  intensified  by  the 
overthrow  of  the  Moriscos  and  their  final  expulsion  from 
the  Peninsula. 

In  1618,  a few  years  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Moris- 
cos, a commission  was  organised  to  propose  a remedy 
for  the  ruinous  condition  of  the  kingdom,  and  it  began 
its  memorial  to  the  king  with  the  following  lamentation : 
“ The  depopulation  and  want  of  inhabitants  in  Spain  at 
present  are  much  greater  than  ever  before  in  the  reigns 
of  any  of  your  Majesty’s  ancestors,  being  in  truth  so  great 
at  this  time  that  if  God  do  not  provide  such  a remedy 
for  us  as  we  may  expect  from  your  Majesty’s  piety  and 
wisdom,  the  Crown  of  Spain  is  hastening  to  its  total  ruin  ; 
nothing  being  more  visible  than  that  Spain  is  on  the  verge 
of  destruction,  its  houses  being  in  ruins  everywhere,  and 
without  anybody  to  rebuild  them,  and  its  towns  and 
villages  lying  like  so  many  deserts.”  1 

It  was  of  great  importance  for  agriculture  that  the 
means  of  irrigation  which  the  Spaniards  found  established 
in  the  districts  taken  from  the  Moors  should  be  main- 
tained and  even  extended.  But  the  conquerors  in  this 
matter  appear  as  inefficient  successors  of  the  conquered. 
Their  attempts  in  this  direction  were  few  and  ineffectual. 

The  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  sheep-owners,  who  were 
represented  by  the  Council  of  the  Mesta,  had  an  important 
influence  on  the  agriculture  of  Spain,  particularly  on  the 
agriculture  of  Estramadura.  When  the  Moors  were  ex- 
pelled from  this  province,  a large  part  of  the  land  hitherto 
cultivated  was  abandoned.  In  the  course  of  time,  how- 
ever, attempts  were  made  to  restore  the  cultivation,  but 
the  new  population,  in  part  lazy  and  ignorant  discharged 
soldiers,  made  little  progress  against  the  opposition  and 
1 Geddes,  Miscellaneous  Tracts  (London,  1730),  i.  163. 


xviii  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


encroachments  of  the  owners  of  the  sheep  that  were 
annually  driven  over  this  region.  Gradually  the  popu- 
lation of  Estramadura  increased,  resulting  in  contests 
between  the  wandering  shepherds  and  the  resident  cul- 
tivators. In  1556  a compromise  was  effected,  and  the 
privileges  of  the  Mesta  were  defined  and  legally  estab- 
lished. Conspicuous  among  these  privileges  two  may  be 
cited  : one  is  that  the  permanent  residents  were  pro- 
hibited from  ploughing  land  that  had  not  been  cultivated 
hitherto ; the  other  is  that  they  were  prohibited  from 
extending  their  enclosures.  The  privileges  of  the  Mesta 
suggest  the  hunting  privileges  of  a medieval  aristocracy. 
They  discouraged  agriculture,  and  those  who  opposed 
them  found  it  easy  to  argue  that  they  “ doomed  to  barren- 
ness some  of  the  finest  districts  of  Spain.” 

An  effective  obstacle  to  agricultural  progress  existed 
also  in  the  practice  of  entailing  estates  in  behalf  of  the 
eldest  son  and  of  bestowing  lands  in  mortmain  on  churches 
and  monasteries. 

Although  excuses  may  have  been  found  for  the  exist- 
ence of  entailed  estates  while  the  aristocracy  was  power- 
ful and  rendering  the  Crown  great  service  in  war,  it  is 
difficult  to  justify  that  extension  of  the  practice  which 
we  observe  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  compara- 
tively poor  were  ennobled,  and  thus  confirmed  in  their 
idleness,  and  made  ridiculous  in  their  unsupported  pre- 
tensions. This  practice  is  noteworthy  for  its  evil  effects 
on  the  agriculture  of  the  country.  In  bringing  honest 
work  into  contempt,  and  in  setting  up  numerous  models 
of  indolent  and  worthless  lives,  its  influence  was  so  great 
that  in  1552  the  Cortes  of  Madrid  was  moved  to  repu- 
diate the  privileges  of  entailing  property  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  younger  children  and  to  the  injury  of  the  nation. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  lands  of 
Spain,  whether  in  public  or  private  hands,  were  being 
rapidly  denuded  of  trees,  and  the  government  had  al- 
ready at  that  time  perceived  the  need  of  special  action 


INTRODUCTION 


xix 


to  preserve  the  forests  ; but  the  present  treeless  condi- 
tion of  a large  part  of  the  country  is  an  evidence  that  no 
permanently  effective  provision  was  made.  Besides 
a number  of  general  ordinances  relating  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  forests,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  caused  to 
be  issued  special  ordinances  touching  the  conservation 
of  the  forests  in  the  districts  about  Madrid  and  Medina 
del  Campo. 

It  may  be  seen  from  the  instructions  given  to  Diego 
de  Covarrubias,  when  he  was  appointed  president  of  the 
Council  of  Castile,  that  Philip  II  appreciated  the  serious- 
ness of  the  situation  : “ One  thing,”  he  said,  “ I desire 
to  see  given  thorough  treatment,  and  that  is  the  matter 
of  the  preservation  of  the  forests,  and  their  increase,  which 
is  very  necessary  ; for  I believe  they  are  going  to  destruc- 
tion. I fear  those  who  come  after  us  may  have  many 
complaints  that  we  have  allowed  them  to  be  used  up,  and 
God  grant  that  we  may  not  see  this  in  our  day.” 

Prominent  among  the  causes  of  the  disappearance  of 
the  forests  was  the  disposition  to  plunder  rather  than  to 
husband  the  resources  of  the  country.  In  order  to  pre- 
pare the  soil  to  receive  the  seed  and  to  provide  abundant 
pasture,  it  was  the  practice  in  some  parts  of  Spain  to 
burn  the  forests  and  the  thickets  which  occupied  the 
ground.  The  fires  kindled  for  this  purpose,  which  some- 
times extended  over  several  leagues  and  often  caused 
serious  losses,  were  recognised  as  an  evil  to  be  abated. 
Ordinances  were,  therefore,  issued  to  prohibit  them,  but 
the  abuses  proved  to  be  difficult  to  correct.  In  this 
barbarous  manner  disappeared  the  forests  of  Estrama- 
dura,  Andalucia,  Toledo,  and  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,, 
leaving  no  possibility  of  their  being  replaced,  inasmuch 
as  the  new  growths,  the  fresh  and  tender  shoots,  were 
destroyed  by  the  cattle  which  occupied  these  fields  as 
pastures. 

That  some  part  of  the  damage  might  be  avoided, 
Philip  II  ordered  that  the  justices  of  the  districts  in  which 
VOL.  i.  b 2 


XX 


THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


the  forests  had  been  burned  should  not  allow  cattle  to 
graze  where  the  ground  had  been  burned  over,  except  as 
permitted  by  the  licence  of  his  council.  The  ancient 
right  to  take  wood  for  the  use  of  the  court  had  also  much 
to  do  with  the  destruction  of  the  forests  ; not  that  the 
strict  observance  of  the  right  itself  would  have  caused 
any  serious  damage,  but  that  under  the  pretence  of  ob- 
serving it,  a way  was  found  for  extensive  frauds,  in  that 
persons  about  the  court  not  entitled  to  the  advantage  of 
this  privilege  ravaged  the  forests  and  contributed  in  a 
large  measure  to  their  ruin. 

Concerning  the  industries  of  Spain  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  there  appear  two  widely  divergent  Hews.  Ac- 
cording to  one  opinion,  the  beginning  of  the  century  wit- 
nessed an  extraordinary  development  in  the  silk  and 
woollen  industries,  which  lost  their  importance  in  the 
seventeenth  century  ; while,  in  the  other  view,  there 
never  existed  in  the  country  any  remarkable  industrial 
development.  The  historical  fact,  however,  lies  nearer 
the  first  view  than  the  second,  but  at  the  same  time  there 
is  no  doubt  that  tradition  has  somewhat  exaggerated  the 
degree  of  industrial  prosperity  which  had  been  attained 
at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century?.  There  is  no 
doubt,  moreover,  that  the  course  of  the  century  was 
marked  by  a conspicuous  decline  in  Spanish  industry, 
but  it  is  not  now  possible  to  date  the  several  steps  of  that 
decline.  Among  the  first  symptoms  were  the  complaints 
made  in  1537  that  the  cloth  of  Segovia  had  risen  in  price 
in  the  four  preceding  years.  With  these  complaints  of 
high  prices  appeared  also  denunciations  of  fraud  employed 
in  the  processes  of  manufacturing.  On  account  of  these 
high  prices,  the  common  people  were  unable  to  use  the 
cloth  made  in  their  own  country  and  were  granted  the 
privilege  of  purchasing  foreign  goods.  This  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fall  of  the  textile  industries  in  Spain,  which 
was  hastened  by  the  operation  of  several  causes.  Pro- 
minent among  these  was  the  importation  of  gold  and 


INTRODUCTION 


xxi 


silver  from  America,  which  caused  a continued  rise  of 
price,  and  developed  an  irresistible  desire  to  buy  in  a 
foreign  market.  Another  cause  was  the  marked  decline 
in  the  quality  of  Spanish  products,  which  placed  them  in 
unfavourable  contrast  with  the  wares  of  other  countries, 
and  destroyed  the  demand  for  them.  Among  these 
causes  may  be  mentioned,  also,  the  rigidity  of  the  sur- 
viving medieval  trade  organisations,  which,  bjr  their 
narrow  views  and  their  illiberal  conduct  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  monopolies,  prevented  industrial  and  com- 
mercial growth,  and  made  impossible,  even  in  Spanish 
markets,  successful  competition  with  the  more  liberal 
industrial  systems  of  other  nations.  A survey  of  the  in- 
dustries of  Spain  throughout  the  century,  however,  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  manufacture  of  cloth  flourished 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  while  in  the 
second  quarter  there  were  conspicuous  symptoms  of  its 
approaching  decline.  “ By  the  middle  of  the  century 
the  evil  had  become  so  far  aggravated  that  Spain  not 
only  did  not  export  textile  fabrics,  but  was  even  under 
the  necessity  of  importing  them  in  order  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  her  own  consumption.”  1 In  the  last  half  of 
the  century  the  fall  was  rapid,  and  all  subsequent  efforts 
for  revival  were  fruitless. 

Conspicuous  among  the  hindrances  to  the  economic 
development  of  Spain  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  the 
lack  of  facilities  for  transportation.  This  phase  of  civilisa- 
tion received  little  attention  from  the  Moors.  The  habits 
of  their  ancestors,  accustomed  to  free  life  on  the  desert 
or  in  Northern  Africa,  made  them  indifferent  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  roads  suited  to  vehicles  with  wheels  ; and  the 
fact  that  the  Spaniards  remained  in  a very  large  measure 
satisfied  with  the  beasts  of  burden  as  a means  of  trans- 
portation may  be  in  part  accounted  for  by  the  influ- 
ence of  their  Mohammedan  neighbours.  An  important 
difference  between  the  English  and  Spanish  settlers  in 

1 Colmeiro,  Historia  de  la  Economia  politica  (Madrid,  1863),  ii.  188. 


xxii  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


America  is  that  the  English  have  made  roads  over  which 
they  could  drag  with  them  their  household  goods  and 
implements  of  industry  on  carts  or  wagons,  while  the 
Spaniards,  in  their  advance  into  unoccupied  regions,  have 
often  neglected  to  build  roads,  and  remained  satisfied 
with  beasts  of  burden  as  means  of  transportation. 

The  lack  of  convenient  and  inexpensive  means  of 
communication  between  buyers  and  sellers  suggested  the 
fixing  of  certain  times  and  places  for  general  meetings. 
These  meetings  became  the  great  fairs  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
survivals  of  which  may  still  be  seen  at  various  points  in 
Eastern  Europe.  In  Spain  they  were  held  at  Segovia, 
Valladolid,  Alcala,  Salamanca,  Seville,  Villalon,  Medina 
de  Rioseco,  and  Medina  del  Campo.  On  account  of  the 
great  wealth  gathered  at  Rioseco,  the  place  acquired 
the  title  of  India  chica  ; but  the  most  important  of  all 
the  fairs  was  that  of  Medina  del  Campo,  whose  origin, 
like  the  origin  of  most  European  fairs,  is  not  a matter  of 
definite  historical  knowledge. 

The  apologist  of  Spain’s  economic  policy  with  respect 
to  foreign  trade  in  the  sixteenth  century  is  disposed  to 
find  in  the  restrictive  and  artificial  system  of  the  Han- 
seatic League  and  the  Italian  republics  an  earlier  employ- 
ment of  the  methods  whose  origin  is  ascribed  to  the 
Spaniards,  claiming  that  the  influence  of  these  powers 
was  felt  throughout  Europe,  and  that  the  mercantile 
system  was  introduced  into  Spain  not  earlier  than  into 
France  and  England.  If  it  struck  deeper  roots  in  Spain 
than  elsewhere,  it  was  because  Spain  controlled  the  best 
mines  of  the  world,  and  could  not  without  difficulty  give 
up  the  thought  of  monopolising  the  precious  metals. 

In  examining  the  trade  with  foreign  nations  and  the 
shifting  attitude  of  the  government  towards  it,  it  is  not 
possible  to  discover  any  principle  which  was  consistently 
observed.  Many  decrees  of  prohibition  issued  with  re- 
spect to  exportation  were  prompted  by  the  desire  not 
to  have  diminished  the  store  of  articles  necessary  for  the 


INTRODUCTION 


xxm 


support  of  the  people  ; and  if  in  certain  cases  the  importa- 
tion of  wares  was  prohibited,  it  was  to  avoid  too  sharp 
competition  with  Spain’s  domestic  products.  In  other 
cases  the  principle  of  the  mercantile  system,  or  the  desire 
to  increase  the  amount  of  specie  in  the  kingdom,  was  un- 
questionably the  determining  factor  in  the  policy.  This 
state  of  things  has  been  characterised  by  Colmeiro  in 
the  remark  that  the  mercantile  doctrines  grew  up  slowly 
and  without  order,  indicating  the  triumph  of  other  ideas, 
without  succeeding  in  forming  a new  system  ; so  that  the 
commercial  policy  of  the  sixteenth  century  appears  as 
a web  of  contradictions. 

Passing  over  the  details  of  the  effects  of  the  colonial 
system  and  the  transatlantic  trade,  attention  may  be 
directed  to  the  influence  of  the  government  on  the  eco- 
nomic affairs  of  Spain.  It  may  be  noticed,  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  extensive  dominions  involving  the  govern- 
ment in  large  expenses  in  carrying  on  wars,  into  which  it 
was  drawn  by  an  aggressive  ambition,  made  a demand 
on  the  nation  which  the  public  revenue,  even  when  sup- 
plemented by  the  treasures  of  America,  could  not  satisfy. 
Through  the  great  undertakings  of  Charles  V and  Philip  II 
the  expenditures  went  on  from  year  to  year,  carrying 
over  an  increasing  burden  upon  the  income  of  the  future, 
so  that  at  the  death  of  Philip  II  Spain  had  a debt  of 
140,000,000  ducats.1 

Philip’s  extraordinary  need  of  money  to  meet  his 
numerous  obligations  led  him  to  extraordinary  means  to 
obtain  it.  He  appropriated  for  his  own  uses  silver  and 
gold  which  came  from  the  Indies  for  merchants  and  other 
private  persons.  This  helped  to  destroy  the  fundamental 

1 “ La  nacion  sufria  los  mayores  ahogos,  y arrastraba  una  vida 
trabajosa,  miserable  y pobre,  gastando  toda  su  savia  en  alimentar 
aquellas  y las  anteriores  guerras,  que  continuamente  habia  sostenido 
el  emperador,  y no  bastando  todos  los  esfuerzos  y sacrificios  del  reino 
a subvenir  a las  necesidades  de  fuera,  ni  a sacar  al  monarca  y sus 
ejercitos  de  las  escaseces  y apuros  que  tan  frecuentamente  paralizaban 
sus  operaciones”  (Lafuente,  Historia  general  de  Espafia,  iii.  p.  13). 


xxi v THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


condition  of  material  prosperity,  namely,  the  citizen’s 
sense  of  security  in  the  possession  of  his  property.  He 
sold  offices  and  titles  of  nobility,  and  the  lands  which 
belonged  to  the  Crown.  He  imposed  forced  loans  on 
prelates  and  the  owners  of  large  estates,  which,  in  some 
cases,  were  taken  with  violence  and  without  considera- 
tion. He  suspended  payments  to  creditors  ; and  in  return 
for  payments  in  money  he  rendered  legitimate  the  sons 
of  the  clergy.  Against  these  abuses  the  Cortes  from  time 
to  time  protested ; and  they,  moreover,  petitioned  that 
luxury  in  dress  might  be  abated,  and  that  the  king  him- 
self might  set  the  example.  In  reply  to  the  petitions  for 
restrictions  on  expenditure  in  matters  of  dress,  Philip  II 
issued  the  remarkable  edict  of  October  25,  1563. 

The  scale  on  which  the  royal  household  was  ordered 
also  made  a draft  on  the  resources  of  the  kingdom.  To 
reduce  these  expenditures  was  the  object  of  frequently 
repeated  petitions  by  the  Cortes  to  the  king.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Cortes  wished  for  the  court  and  the  nation  a 
simpler  form  of  life,  and  in  this  they  were  supported  by 
the  bulk  of  those  who  had  intelligent  opinions  on  public 
affairs.  They  called  the  attention  of  the  king  to  “ the 
pernicious  effects  which  this  manner  of  living  necessarily 
had  on  the  great  nobles  and  others  of  his  subjects,  prone 
to  follow  the  example  of  their  master.” 

Philip’s  financial  outlook  and  the  condition  of  the 
country  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  [his  reign  are  charac- 
terised in  a note  written  by  him  to  his  treasurer  : “ Having 
already  reached,”  he  said,  “ my  forty-eighth  year,  and 
the  hereditary  prince,  my  son,  being  only  three  years  old, 
I cannot  but  see  with  the  keenest  anxiety  the  disorderly 
condition  of  the  treasury.  What  a prospect  for  my  old 
age,  if  I am  permitted  to  have  a longer  career,  when  I am 
now  living  from  day  to  day  without  knowing  how  I shall 
live  on  the  next,  and  how  I shall  procure  that  of  which  I 
am  so  much  in  need !” 1 

1 Gayarre,  Philip  the  Second , 268. 


INTRODUCTION 


XXV 


And  yet,  with  a deficit  increasing  from  year  to  year, 
he  entered  upon  the  building  of  the  Escorial.  The  cost 
of  constructing  this  remarkable  edifice  and  providing  the 
interior  decoration  amounted  to  about  6,000,000  ducats, 
a sum  equal  to  $30,000,000  at  present,  or  more  than  the 
total  revenue  of  the  kingdom  of  Castile  for  a year  at  that 
time.  And  although  it  may  have  laid  a burden  on  the 
nation,  yet,  according  to  Alonso  de  San  Geronimo,  it  at 
the  same  time  “ placed  the  Almighty  under  obligations  of 
gratitude  to  the  king.”  This  monument  of  economic  folly 
was  designed  by  the  Icing  to  stay  the  current  of  social 
progress.  According  to  his  own  declaration,  he  intended 
to  make  a bulwark  unconquerable  by  the  new  doctrines, 
a stronghold  in  which  the  throne  and  religion  should  be 
sheltered  so  securely  that  they  might  not  be  reached  by 
the  ideas  then  agitating  the  world.  It  was  important 
for  the  economic  condition  of  Spain  that  the  building  of 
the  Escorial  set  a fashion  for  the  magnates  of  the  realm. 
They  felt  called  upon  to  manifest  their  pious  zeal  in 
founding  churches  and  monasteries  and  in  purchasing 
relics.  Whatever  influence  these  institutions  exerted  on 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  nation,  it  is  clear  that  they 
were  not  powerful  factors  of  economic  progress.  We 
may  count,  also,  as  a hindrance  to  economic  growth 
the  great  number  of  holidays,  set  apart  primarily  for 
exercises  of  devotion,  but  which  came  to  be  days  of 
pleasure,  developing  in  the  people  a spirit  opposed  to 
that  persistent  effort  necessary  to  an  advance  in  material 
well-being. 

Burdened  with  national  poverty  and  ruinous  foreign 
wars,  Spain  was  at  the  same  time  afflicted  with  a series  of 
kings,  whose  increasing  incapacity  culminated  in  the  imbe- 
cility of  Charles  II.  The  proceeds  of  oppressive  taxation 
were  in  large  part  either  stolen  on  the  way  to  the  treasury 
or  squandered  later  by  favourites  on  unworthy  depend- 
ents. In  nearly  every  respect,  except  by  the  marvellous 
bravery  and  endurance  of  her  explorers  and  pioneers, 


xxvi  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


Spain  was  unfitted  to  make  wise  use  of  her  unrivalled 
opportunities  for  colonial  enterprise. 

Throughout  their  history  the  Spanish  dependencies 
in  America  witnessed  a prolonged  conflict  between  two 
opposing  parties.  One  of  these  parties  represented  the 
ecclesiastical  fanaticism  that  had  been  engendered  by 
the  war  against  the  Moors.  The  members  of  this  party 
exaggerated  the  influence  of  baptism  on  the  Indians,  and 
found  their  view’s  opposed  by  a large  number  of  persons 
who  were  not  moved  by  the  crusading  spirit,  but  who 
were  drawn  to  the  Indies  by  their  love  of  adventure  or 
their  insatiable  avarice,  and  who  had  no  regard  for  the 
Indian  except  as  an  instrument  to  be  employed  for  their 
advantage.  The  strife  between  these  two  factions  con- 
stituted an  important  feature  of  the  internal  history  of 
the  dependencies  ; and,  after  the  protest  of  Las  Casas,  it 
assumed  the  form  of  the  advocacy  of  the  freedom  of  the 
Indians  by  one  party,  in  opposition  to  the  determination 
of  the  other  party  to  obtain  through  them  material  gain 
by  some  form  of  servitude. 


THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 
IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 


CHAPTER  I 

CASTILLA  DE  ORO 

I.  The  governorship  of  Santo  Domingo.  II.  The  expeditions  of  Ojeda 
and  Nicuesa.  III.  The  discovery  of  the  Pacific.  IV.  Pedro 
Arias  Davila.  V.  Letter  of  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  to  the  king. 
VI.  Pedrarias’  hostility  to  Vasco  Nunez. 


I 

A few  of  the  islands  now  called  the  West  Indies,  the 
island  of  Trinidad,  and  a small  part  of  the  north-eastern 
coast  of  South  America,  comprised  all  of  the  New  World 
that  was  known  to  Europeans  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  outline  of  the  continent — in  fact, 
everything  beyond  this  near  horizon — was  still  hidden  in 
the  darkness  that  had  covered  it  for  immemorial  ages. 
What  was  known  of  the  mainland  had  been  revealed  by 
Columbus  on  his  third  voyage,  when,  after  he  had  dis- 
covered the  island  of  Trinidad,  he  crossed  the  Gulf  of 
Paria,  and  sailed  along  the  coast  towards  the  west.  After 
Columbus’  third  voyage,  this  region  was  visited  by  Alonso 
de  Ojeda  in  1499.  He  was  accompanied  by  Juan  de  la 
Cosa  and  Amerigo  Vespucci ; he  explored  the  coast  of 
Paria,  and  sailed  westward  and  entered  Lake  Maracaibo. 
On  the  shore  of  this  lake  he  discovered  a village,  or  a col- 
lection of  huts  built  on  piles  over  the  water,  which  was 
inhabited  by  members  of  a tribe  known  as  the  Onotes. 

VOL.  1.  A 


2 


THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


The  discoverers  called  this  village  Venezuela,  or  little 
Venice,  a name  which  was  later  applied  to  the  province, 
and  became  the  appellation  of  a state  after  the  war  for 
independence.1 

A short  time  after  Ojeda’s  return  to  Spain,  Rodrigo 
de  Bastidas,  of  Seville,  sailed  from  Cadiz,  taking  with  him 
as  pilot  Juan  de  la  Cosa,  who  had  been  a member  of  Ojeda’s 
expedition.  Bastidas  touched  at  La  Vela,  and  proceeded 
westward  along  the  coast.  He  passed  the  mouth  of  the 

1 The  leader  of  this  expedition,  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  was  born  in 
Cuenca  about  1468,  and  died  in  Santo  Domingo  in  1514  or  1515.  He 
was  brought  up  under  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Medina  Celi,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  wars  against  the  Moors.  He  accompanied  Columbus 
on  his  second  voyage,  and  acquired  fame  by  his  many  daring  exploits. 

The  following  are  the  principal  discoverers  who  made  voyages  to 
South  America  in  the  sixteenth  century  : 

Columbus  ........  1498-1504 

To  Trinidad  and  the  mainland  ; Central  America  (Hon- 
duras) and  the  coast  of  the  Isthmus. 

N1R0,  Guerra  . ........  1499 

To  the  pearl  coast  (Venezuela). 

Ojeda,  Amerigo  Vespucci  .....  1499-1505 

To  Guiana,  Venezuela,  and  the  northern  coast  of  South 
America. 

Bastidas,  Juan  de  la  Cosa  ......  1500 

To  Venezuela,  Cape  de  la  Vela,  Magdalena  River,  Gulf  of 
UraM,  and  the  coast  of  the  Isthmus. 

PlNZON  ..........  1500 

To  Brazil  south  of  the  equator  ; mouth  of  the  Amazon. 

Diego  de  Lepe  .........  1500 

To  Brazil  south  of  the  equator  ; and  sailed  along  the  coast 
to  Venezuela. 

Alvarez  Cabral  ........  1500 

To  Brazil,  lat.  160  20'  south. 

Diaz  de  Solis  1506,  1508,  1515 

To  Honduras,  Yucatan,  and  Brazil  (with  Pinzon)  ; Rio  de 
la  Plata  (1515). 

Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  .......  1513 

To  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Magalhaes  .........  1520 

To  the  Strait  of  Magellan. 

Andagoya  ..........  1522 

To  the  region  between  the  Atrato  and  the  Pacific. 

Francisco  Pizarro  .......  1524-1541 

To  Peru. 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


3 


Madgalena  River  in  March  1501.  He  reached  the  Gulf 
of  Uraba,  and,  turning  about  Cape  Tiburon,  advanced 
some  distance  along  the  coast  which  was  later  known  to 
be  the  coast  of  the  Isthmus.1 

Ojeda  made  a second  voyage  to  Tierra  Firme  in  1502, 
this  time  with  the  intention  of  establishing  a colony,  but 
the  hostility  of  the  Indians  and  the  failure  of  his  associates, 
Vergara  and  Ocampo,  to  agree  with  him  induced  him  to 
abandon  his  design.  Vergara  and  Ocampo  finally  went 
so  far  in  their  animosity  as  to  cause  Ojeda  to  be  sent  in 
irons  to  Santo  Domingo,  and  later  to  Spain,  where  he 
showed  that  the  accusations  against  him  were  groundless. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  century,  Santo  Domingo  was 
the  principal  seat  of  authority  in  America.  The  govern- 
ment that  had  been  established  there  placed  authority 
in  an  absolute  governor.  His  power  extended  not  only 
over  the  islands,  but  also  over  Tierra  Firme.  Columbus 


Sebastian  Cabot  ........  1526 

To  Rio  de  la  Plata,  the  Uruguay,  the  Parana,  and  the 
Paraguay. 

Diego  de  Ordaz  .... 

To  the  Orinoco  and  the  Meta. 

Heredia,  Pedro  de  . 

To  Tierra  Firme  (founder  of  Cartagena). 

Francisco  Cesar  .... 

To  Tierra  Firme  (Antioquia). 

Almagro  ...... 

To  Chile. 

Quesada,  Jimenez  de  ... 

To  the  plateau  of  Cundinamarca. 

BenalcAzar  ..... 

To  the  plateau  of  Cundinamarca. 

Federmann  ..... 

To  the  plateau  of  Cundinamarca. 

Gonzalo  Pizarro  .... 

To  the  Napo,  the  Land  of  Cinnamon. 

Orellana  ...... 

To  the  Amazon,  deserting  from  Gonzalo  Pizarro’s  expedi- 
tion. 

1 Acosta,  J.,  Compendio  historico  del  descubrimiento  y colonization 
de  la  Nueva  Granada  (Paris,  1848),  21  ; Antunez  y Acevedo,  Rafael, 
Memorias  historicas  sobre  legislation,  y gobierno  del  comercio  de  los 
Espanoles  con  sus  colonias  en  las  Indias  occidentales  (Madrid,  1797),  i. 


i53i 


1533 


1535 


1535 


1537 


1537 


1537 


1540 


154° 


4 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

was  the  first  governor,  and  was  still  in  office  in  1500.  The 
fame  of  America  had  drawn  into  the  colony,  during  the 
seven  or  eight  years  of  its  existence,  a large  number  of 
adventurous  and  reckless  spirits,  who  resented  all  efforts 
to  subject  them  to  the  restraints  of  civilisation.  The 
decent  government  of  Columbus  was  detested  by  them, 
and  they  undertook  to  overthrow  it  by  protests  and  accusa- 
tions designed  to  discredit  the  governor.  They  were  so 
far  successful  in  this  that  they  persuaded  the  Crown  to 
order  an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  colony  and  an  exami- 
nation of  the  charges  against  Columbus.  This  task  was 
entrusted  to  Francisco  de  Bobadilla,  who  arrived  in  Santo 
Domingo  in  August  1500.  Endowed  with  full  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction,  he  was  authorised  to  supersede 
Columbus,  in  case,  after  due  investigation,  he  found  him 
guilty  of  charges  that  rendered  him  unworthy  to  be  con- 
tinued as  the  governor  of  the  colony.  He  was,  moreover, 
empowered  to  expel  from  the  islands  any  person  residing 
in  them,  or  who  might  arrive  there,  if  he  thought  such 
action  necessary  for  the  royal  service  or  the  purposes  of 
justice.  Persons  thus  ordered  to  depart  might  not  inter- 
pose an  appeal  or  supplication  to  the  king,  but  were  re- 
quired to  obey  under  penalties  which  the  governor  might 
impose  in  the  name  of  the  king. 

The  powers  granted  to  Bobadilla  were  to  be  exercised 
by  him  only  after  an  examination  and  conviction  of 
Columbus  ; but  Bobadilla  found  it  advisable  to  assume 
authority  at  once,  and  to  make  his  investigation  after- 
wards. Having  departed  from  the  designs  of  the  king,  he 
felt  the  necessity  of  producing  evidence  of  guilt  on  the 
part  of  Columbus,  or  of  assuming  the  existence  of  such 
guilt  ; and  thus,  without  waiting  for  conviction,  he  con- 
fiscated the  admiral’s  property,  subjected  him  to  serious 
insults,  and  finally  arrested  him,  placed  him  in  irons,  and 
sent  him  to  Spain. 

The  barbarity  of  Bobadilla  aroused  indignation  in 
Spain,  and  the  arrival  of  Columbus  in  Cadiz  as  a prisoner, 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


5 


in  chains,  moved  the  court  to  order  that  he  should  be 
released  and  treated  with  distinction.  Both  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  showed  him  marked  attention ; but  the 
ungenerous  nature  of  Ferdinand  caused  him  to  doubt  the 
advisability  of  restoring  to  the  great  admiral  all  of  his 
former  honours  and  powers  ; and  although  Bobadilla  was 
recalled,  Columbus  was  not  reinstated,  and  the  office  of 
governor  was  conferred  upon  Nicholas  de  Ovando.  The 
influential  members  of  the  colony  evidently  remained 
hostile  to  Columbus,  even  after  the  removal  of  Bobadilla  ; 
for  when  he  appeared  before  the  port  of  Santo  Domingo, 
on  his  fourth  voyage,  in  1502,  he  was  not  permitted  to 
enter.  This  refusal  was,  however,  in  keeping  with  the 
king’s  orders,  who,  by  forbidding  Columbus  to  land  at 
Santo  Domingo,  hoped  to  obviate  conflicts  that  might 
arise  from  the  hostility  of  the  colonists  towards  the 
admiral. 

Denied  the  shelter  of  the  port,  Columbus  weathered 
the  storm  which  he  had  foreseen,  and  proceeded  towards 
the  continent.  Off  the  northern  coast  of  Honduras,  he 
discovered  the  island  of  Guanaja.  But  at  this  time  no 
discovery  made  any  important  impression  on  his  mind, 
except  such  as  seemed  to  indicate  the  existence  of  a strait, 
through  which  he  might  reach  the  Far  East.  Expecting 
to  find  such  a strait,  he  sailed  along  the  west  coast  of 
Central  America,  discovered  the  cape  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Gracias  a Dios,  and  explored  the  northern 
coast  of  the  Isthmus.  Here  he  entered  the  bay  which  is 
called  Porto  Bello,  and  afterwards  advanced  as  far  as 
the  Gulf  of  Darien.  At  this  point  Columbus  relinquished 
his  search  for  the  illusive  strait,  and  sailed  for  Jamaica, 
where  he  arrived  with  his  ships  in  such  a condition  that 
only  by  the  greatest  efforts  of  their  crews  could  they  be 
kept  afloat. 


6 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


II 

Among  the  other  voyages  made  to  the  northern  coast 
of  South  America  in  the  first  decade  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, the  most  noteworthy  were  those  undertaken  by 
Ojeda  and  Nicuesa.  In  1508  they  petitioned  for  authority 
to  form  settlements  and  establish  governments  in  Tierra 
Firme.  The  grant  to  Ojeda  embraced  the  coast  from  Cape 
de  la  Vela  to  the  Gulf  of  Uraba,  while  the  territory  assigned 
to  Nicuesa  extended  on  the  coast  from  the  Gulf  of  Uraba 
to  Cape  Gracias  a Dios,  and  was  then  called  Castilla  de 
Oro.  Each  promised  to  construct  four  forts,  and  to  pay 
the  king’s  fifth,  and  at  the  same  time  retained  the  right 
to  return  to  Spain  to  enjoy  the  fortune  he  might  acquire. 
In  taking  possession  of  these  territories,  the  persons  to 
whom  they  were  granted  were  required  to  announce  to 
the  natives  the  principal  articles  of  the  Christian  faith,  to 
inform  them  of  the  supreme  power  of  the  pope  over  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth,  to  cause  them  to  know  that  the 
supreme  pontiff  had  granted  the  country  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  and  to  require  them  to  embrace  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church  and  submit  to  their  sovereign.  In  case  the 
Indians  refused  to  act  in  obedience  to  these  requests,  Ojeda 
and  Nicuesa  might  make  war  on  them  and  reduce  them  to 
slavery.1 

Preparations  for  these  expeditions  encountered  various 
obstacles  both  in  Spain  and  in  Santo  Domingo.  In  Santo 
Domingo,  Diego  Columbus,  the  son  of  the  discoverer,  af- 
firmed that  the  grants  violated  the  agreement  made  by 
the  Crown  with  his  father.  Ojeda  and  Nicuesa,  moreover, 

1 For  this  remarkable  document,  see  Herrera,  Dec.  1,  lib.  vii.  cap.  14  ; 
Acosta,  Nueva  Granada , 23-5  ; Robertson,  Works  (Edinburgh,  1819), 
viii.  note  23  ; Gaffarel,  Nunez  de  Balboa  (Paris,  1882),  7 ; Cuervo, 
Documentos  iniditos,  iv.  80-87  • Capitulacion  que  se  tomo  con  Diego 
de  Nicuesa  y Alonso  de  Ojeda,  Coleccion  de  documentos  iniditos  de 
Amirica  y Oceania  (Madrid,  1864-84)  (42  vol.),  xxii.  13-26;  xxxii. 
25-43- 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


7 


fell  into  a serious  dispute  concerning  the  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  their  territories.  By  the  intervention  of 
Juan  de  la  Cosa,  it  was  finally  agreed  that  the  Rio  Grande 
should  be  the  separating  line  and  the  common  boundary. 
Ojeda  landed  on  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Cartagena,  where 
he  intended  to  form  a settlement.  The  natives  held  aloof 
from  the  Spaniards,  but  when  the  invaders  began  to  pillage 
the  country,  the  Indians  fell  upon  them  with  such  force 
that  seventy  Spaniards  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  among 
whom  was  Juan  de  la  Cosa. 

Shortly  after  this  disaster,  Nicuesa  appeared  in  the 
Bay  of  Cartagena,  and  offered  Ojeda  the  assistance  of  his 
troops,  in  spite  of  the  strained  relations  that  had  existed 
previously  between  the  two  leaders.  The  Spaniards  now 
in  turn  surprised  the  Indians  of  Turbaco,  and  surrounded 
and  burned  their  village.  Many  of  the  Indians  perished 
in  the  flames,  preferring  this  fate  to  falling  into  the  hands 
of  their  enemy,  who,  regardless  of  sex  or  age,  were  dis- 
posed to  give  no  quarter  to  their  captives.  Retiring  from 
this  inhospitable  region,  Ojeda  passed  along  the  shore  to- 
wards the  west,  and  near  the  Gulf  of  Uraba,  built  a fort,  or 
a stockade,  and  constructed  about  twenty  houses  of  reeds 
and  grass,  and  such  other  material  as  the  country  afforded. 
This  settlement  was  called  San  Sebastian  of  Uraba.1 2 

Here  the  Spaniards  did  not  seek  to  establish  friendly 
relations  with  the  Indians,  but  made  war  on  them  at  once. 
In  these  hostilities  Ojeda  was  seriously  wounded,  and  many 
of  his  soldiers  were  killed.  The  survivors  returned  to  their 

1 M.  de  la  Roquette  published  an  account  of  Juan  de  la  Cosa  in 
the  Bulletin  of  the  Geographical  Society,  in  Paris,  in  1862,  vol.  iii. 
No.  17.  A Spanish  translation  of  this  article  is  found  in  Acosta  de 
Samper,  Biografias  de  hombres  ilustres  (Bogota,  1883),  33-9.  This 
article  contains  a discussion  of  Juan  de  la  Cosa’s  map  of  the  north- 
eastern part  of  South  America  ; Doc.  indd.,  xxxii.  43-54. 

2 Cieza  de  Leon,  Cronica  del  Peru,  cap.  vi.,  calls  it  San  Sebastian 
de  Buena  Vista.  Real  Cedula  declarando  perthenescer  el  Golfo  de 
Huraba,  a Alonso  Doxeda  por  fallarse  en  el  termino  que  le  corresponde, 
Doc.  indd.,  xxxii.  101-3  ; Real  Cedula  a Diego  de  Nicuesa,  prevyni- 
endole  pertenscer  a Oxeda,  el  Golfo  de  Huraba,  Doc.  indd.,  xxxii.  103. 


8 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


fort,  where  they  led  a precarious  existence,  in  spite  of  a 
cargo  of  supplies  which  they  received  from  Santo  Domingo. 
Ojeda  caused  his  wound  to  be  cauterised,  and,  in  order  to 
obtain  better  facilities  for  treating  it,  he  felt  obliged  to 
return  to  Santo  Domingo,  where  he  died  not  long  after  his 
arrival.  On  withdrawing,  Ojeda  had  placed  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colony  under  the  direction  of  Francisco  Pizarro, 
who,  as  one  of  the  soldiers,  had  already  given  evidence  of 
the  firmness  and  courage  which  he  displayed  later  in  the 
conquest  of  Peru.  The  time  fixed  by  Ojeda  for  his  return 
to  the  colony  having  passed,  the  colonists  determined  to 
abandon  their  settlement  and  go  back  to  Santo  Domingo. 
They  embarked  in  two  vessels,  but  one  of  them  was 
wrecked  at  the  beginning  of  the  voyage,  causing  the  loss 
of  many  lives.  The  survivors  encountered  Enciso  on  the 
sea  soon  after  this  catastrophe.  He  had  come  from  Santo 
Domingo  with  arms,  men,  and  a supply  of  food  for  Ojeda. 
He  persuaded  the  colonists  to  return  to  the  fort,  where 
they  found  the  Indians  in  a friendly  mood,  and  willing  to 
furnish  whatever  supplies  they  possessed.  But  on  entering 
the  harbour  he  lost  his  principal  vessel  and  a quantity  of 
munitions  and  provisions,  as  well  as  a number  of  animals 
and  various  kinds  of  seed  intended  for  the  promotion  of  agri- 
culture. In  view  of  the  fact  that  many  of  the  colonists  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  position  of  the  settlement,  the  advice 
of  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  was  sufficient  to  induce  Enciso 
to  abandon  San  Sebastian  de  Uraba,  and,  with  his  company 
of  about  one  hundred  followers,  to  establish  the  town  of 
Santa  Maria  la  Antigua  del  Darien,  on  the  western  coast 
of  the  Gulf  of  Uraba,  within  the  limits  of  Nicuesa’s  grant.1 

1 “ Although  this  town  was  inhabited  by  the  Spaniards  for  a 
number  of  years,  no  trace  of  it  now  remains.  It  was  abandoned 
because,  on  account  of  its  low  and  marshy  site,  it  was  found  to  be 
unsanitary.”  Acosta,  Nueva  Granada , 32.  According  to  Quintana, 
the  Spaniards,  fearing  defeat  in  a battle  with  the  Indians,  commended 
themselves  to  Heaven  and  promised,  in  case  they  were  victorious,  to 
call  the  town  which  they  would  build  in  that  region  Santa  Maria  de 
la  Antigua,  in  honour  of  a venerated  image  in  Seville,  Vasco  Nunez 
de  Balboa  (in  “ Vidas  de  Espanoles  celcbres  ”),  3. 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


9 


III 

Various  disputes  arose  at  La  Antigua  almost  as  soon 
as  the  colonists  were  settled  there.  Vasco  Nunez  de 
Balboa  led  a revolt  against  Enciso  for  the  purpose  of 
usurping  his  authority.  Others  held  that  the  supreme 
power  in  the  colony  belonged  to  Nicuesa,  since  they  were 
established  within  the  limits  of  his  territory.  But  Nicuesa 
was  not  in  a position  to  direct  the  government,  even  if  it 
had  fallen  into  his  hands.  His  ships  had  been  scattered 
in  a storm.  Some  of  them  had  taken  refuge  in  the  mouth 
of  the  Chagres  River,  and  in  attempting  to  find  the  others, 
Nicuesa’s  ship  was  stranded.  Not  knowing  where  he  was, 
he  and  his  immediate  followers  wandered  about  in  the 
forests  and  swamps  of  the  shore.  Starvation  and  diseases 
incident  to  the  low  lands  of  the  tropical  coasts  carried  off 
many  of  them,  until  finally  Nicuesa  gathered  the  remnants 
of  his  expedition  at  Nombre  de  Dios.  Here  he  learned  that 
La  Antigua  was  willing  to  acknowledge  him  as  its  governor; 
but  when  his  prospects  seemed  to  be  brightest,  they  were 
ruined  by  his  lack  of  prudence.  He  informed  the  inhabi- 
tants of  La  Antigua  that  they  must  surrender  the  wealth 
they  had  acquired,  without  his  consent,  within  the  limits 
of  his  jurisdiction.  He  failed  to  appreciate  that  men  who 
had  endured  what  the  colonists  of  La  Antigua  had  suffered 
in  accumulating  whatever  articles  of  value  they  had  ac- 
quired would  not  hesitate  at  any  act  that  would  enable 
them  to  retain  their  possessions  ; and  when  they  learned 
of  the  designs  of  Nicuesa,  they  repented  of  their  former 
resolution,  and  agreed  not  to  receive  him.  Therefore,  on 
his  arrival  with  a company  of  seventy  persons,  he  was 
informed  that  he  could  not  disembark. 

He  offered  to  forego  the  position  of  governor,  and  take 
the  post  of  the  humblest  soldier,  so  that  he  might  not  be 
driven  away  to  perish,  without  food,  in  his  rotten  vessel 
at  sea,  or  at  the  hands  of  the  merciless  Indians  on  shore. 


io  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


The  colonists  were  deaf  to  his  entreaties,  and  stood  by  their 
resolution.  Some  of  the  company  were  allowed  to  land, 
but  Nicuesa  and  sixteen  loyal  followers  were  obliged  to 
sail  away,  March  15 n,  to  an  unknown  fate  ; and  thus 
in  obscurity  ended  Nicuesa’s  expedition  of  seven  hundred 
men  who  left  Santo  Domingo  in  search  of  fortune  and 
glorious  adventure.  In  the  year  1510  more  than  a 
thousand  persons  perished  in  explorations  and  settlements 
on  the  coast  from  Cartagena  to  Nombre  de  Dios — more,  in 
fact,  than  were  required  for  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  or  to 
take  possession  of  the  kingdom  of  Peru.1 

A mutiny  led  by  Vasco  Nunez  had  deprived  Enciso  of 
power,  and  in  the  election  of  municipal  officers  which  fol- 
lowed, the  leading  positions  had  fallen  to  Vasco  Nunez 
and  Samudio.  In  order  to  be  relieved  of  the  presence  of 
any  person  who  might  legitimately  claim  to  share  the 
government  of  the  colony  with  him,  Vasco  Nunez  per- 
suaded Samudio  to  go  to  Spain  to  render  to  the  court  an 
account  of  the  many  Indian  tribes  he  had  conquered,  and 
of  the  unfortunate  end  to  which  the  incapacity  of  Nicuesa 
had  brought  his  expedition.  At  the  same  time  Enciso, 
whose  property  had  been  confiscated,  was  sent  away  ; 
and  Vasco  Nunez  was  thus  freed  from  the  embarrassment 
of  persons  who  might  aspire  to  be  his  rivals. 

By  proceeding  against  the  caciques  of  the  region  about 
his  settlement,  Vasco  Nunez  found  a certain  amount  of  gold, 
and,  what  was  more  immediately  important,  stores  of  food. 
Towards  the  north-west  lay  the  territory  of  the  powerful 
cacique,  Comogue,  whose  house  is  described  as  extend- 
ing along  one  side  of  a plaza  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards, 
built  of  heavy  timber,  and  covered  with  a thatched  roof.2 
From  Panquiaco,  the  son  of  Comogue,  Vasco  Nunez  re- 
ceived his  first  information  concerning  the  existence  of  the 

1 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  37. 

2 Sir  Clements  Markham,  The  Conquest  of  New  Granada  (London, 
1412),  65,  says,  “ The  house  of  the  Comogue  chief  was  150  feet  long 
by  80  feet  broad.” 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO  n 

Pacific  Ocean.  Disgusted  by  the  greed  displayed  by  the 
Spaniards  in  distributing  their  gold  among  themselves, 
Panquiaco  said  that  if  it  was  the  wish  to  collect  gold  that 
had  brought  them  from  their  country  and  compelled  them 
to  go  about  disturbing  the  peace  of  others,  he  would  show 
them  countries  where  the  most  common  vessels  were  made 
of  that  metal,  and  where  they  might  bring  together  heaps 
of  gold  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  most  insatiable  appetite  ; 
but  that  for  this  enterprise  their  small  force  was  inade- 
quate ; for  it  would  be  necessary  to  cross  the  chain  of 
mountains  which  appeared  in  the  distance,  and  in  which 
dwelt  warlike  tribes  of  Caribs  ; that  they  would  need  a 
thousand  soldiers  in  order  to  reach  the  other  sea,  where 
they  would  discover  men  navigating  the  ocean  in  great 
sailing  ships.1 

The  statement  of  Panquiaco  incited  Vasco  Nunez  to 
make  inquiries  concerning  the  distance  to  the  other  ocean  ; 
and  his  mind  was  quick  to  form  a plan  to  reach  it.  In  the 
meantime  he  undertook  various  excursions  into  the  region 
about  La  Antigua.  He  ascended  the  Rio  Grande,  now 
known  as  the  Atrato,  and  was  assisted  in  his  explora- 
tions by  Colmenares.  He  found  that  the  ill-repute  of  the 
Spaniards  had  preceded  him  ; and  in  some  instances  the 
Indians  did  not  wait  to  receive  their  guests,  but  abandoned 
their  villages  and  fled  to  the  forests.  In  other  cases,  how- 
ever, the  Indians  were  bold  enough  to  gather  themselves 
together  and  fall  upon  the  Spaniards,  even  without  other 
arms  than  their  war-clubs.  During  this  expedition, 
Vasco  Nunez  saw  the  number  of  his  men  gradually  de- 
crease by  disease,  by  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  and  by 
accidents  through  which  some  of  his  boats  were  wrecked. 

Under  these  circumstances  he  waited  with  anxiety  for 
the  return  of  Samudio,  who  had  been  sent  to  Spain,  and 
Valdivia,  who  had  sailed  for  Santo  Domingo  to  obtain 

1 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada , 42  ; Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa’s  letter  to 
King  Ferdinand,  January  21,  1513,  printed  in  Gafiarel,  Nunez  de 
Balboa,  29-61. 


i2  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


recruits  and  supplies.  Valdivia  had  been  gone  a year,  and 
Samudio  two  years.  Impatient  under  the  inactivity  ne* 
cessitated  by  his  want  of  men  and  equipment,  Vasco 
Nunez  meditated  a voyage  to  Spain  to  make  a report  on 
his  achievements,  and  to  obtain  reinforcements  for  an 
expedition  to  the  undiscovered  ocean.  His  projected 
departure  filled  his  followers  with  the  greatest  anxiety, 
for  they  saw  that  the  absence  of  their  leader  would  cause 
a scattering  of  the  Indians  who  had  been  brought  into 
subjection,  and  the  complete  destruction  of  their  settle- 
ment at  La  Antigua.  But  this  anxiety  was  finally  allayed 
when  he  determined  to  remain  with  the  colony  and  send 
Juan  de  Caicedo  and  Rodrigo  Colmenares  to  Spain. 

Vasco  Nunez’s  prospects  were  finally  improved  by  the 
arrival  of  two  vessels  from  Santo  Domingo,  bringing  men, 
arms,  and  provisions.  From  these  recruits,  and  from  the 
colonists  already  on  the  Isthmus,  he  organised  a force  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety  men,  with  a thousand  Indian 
earners,  and  entered  upon  his  march.  He  began  his  ad- 
vance from  the  shore  towards  the  south  on  the  1st  of 
September.  He  recognised  that,  having  only  a small 
force  of  Spaniards,  it  would  be  necessary  to  preserve 
friendly  relations  with  the  Indian  tribes  through  whose 
territory  he  was  obliged  to  pass.  He  sent  messengers  to 
Poncha,  the  principal  chief  of  this  region  on  the  northern 
side  of  the  mountains,  who,  persuaded  of  the  Spaniard’s 
friendly  intentions,  furnished  him  guides  to  show  him  the 
most  favourable  route.  But  near  the  summit  of  the 
mountains  they  encountered  the  cacique  Quareca,  who 
assumed  a very  different  attitude,  and  threatened  to  kill 
all  persons  who  might  enter  his  territory.  For  the  belli- 
gerent cacique  this  proved  to  be  an  unfortunate  determi- 
nation ; for  Vasco  Nunez,  not  in  a mood  to  withdraw  and 
give  up  his  enterprise,  led  his  little  force  to  a furious 
assault.  Before  the  firearms,  the  sharp  swords  and  spears, 
and  the  fierce  dogs  of  the  Spaniards,  the  Indians  were  able 
to  offer  little  or  no  resistance.  The  chief  and  six  hundred 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


13 


of  his  men  were  killed,  others  were  made  prisoners,  and 
the  rest  fled  in  confusion.  Among  the  Indians  found  in 
their  village  near  the  place  of  conflict,  some  were  caring 
for  the  houses,  dressed  as  women.  These,  who  were 
thought  to  be  “ corrupted  with  an  unnatural  crime,  were 
thrown  to  the  dogs,  who  tore  them  in  pieces  ” (Herrera). 
It  is  reported  that  more  than  forty  suffered  this  horrible 
death. 

Vasco  Nunez  made  a special  effort  to  conciliate  the 
survivors  of  the  tribe  who  had  thus  heroically  attempted 
to  defend  their  country  from  the  encroachment  of  the 
strangers.  He  found  them  docile,  took  them  into  his  ser- 
vice, and  sent  back  to  their  chief  the  Indians  who  had  been 
furnished  by  Poncha.  Leaving  here  some  of  his  own  men, 
he  continued  the  ascent  of  the  mountain,  until  the  Indians 
pointed  out  to  him  the  summit  from  which  he  would  be 
able  to  see  the  object  of  his  search.  Here,  then,  was  en- 
acted the  dramatic  scene  of  discovering  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Vasco  Nunez  ordered  his  men  to  halt,  while  he  went  up  to 
the  height  indicated,  and,  prostrating  himself  on  the  earth, 
looked  out  upon  the  hitherto  unknown  shore  of  the  Pacific. 
His  followers  were  then  permitted  to  behold  the  object  of 
all  their  toil  and  danger,  while  the  Indians  gazed  with 
astonishment  upon  acts  that  might  well  have  convinced 
them  that  the  Spaniards  were  worshippers  of  the  ocean. 
The  date  of  this  discovery  was  the  25th  of  September 
I5I3-1 

1 On  their  expeditions,  the  Spaniards  were  careful  to  have  a notary 
in  the  company,  to  attest,  and  make  record  of,  important  events. 
The  notary  of  Vasco  Nunez’s  expedition  for  the  discovery  of  the 
Pacific  was  Andres  de  Valderrabano,  who  described  himself  as  “ notary 
of  their  Plighnesses  at  the  Court  and  in  all  their  kingdoms  and  seig- 
niories.” The  notarial  document  is  in  the  following  form  : “ The 
cavaliers,  knights,  and  gentlemen  who  were  present  at  the  discovery 
of  the  South  Sea,  in  the  company  of  the  very  noble  lord,  Captain 
Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  governor  in  the  name  of  their  Highnesses, 
of  Tierra  Firme,  were  the  following."  Here  follow  the  names.  The 
notary  then  affirms  that  he  was  present,  and  formally  attests  the 
truth  of  the  foregoing  statement,  adding,  " I say  that  these  sixty-seven 
men  are  the  first  Christians  who  saw  the  South  Sea.  I was  with 


i4  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

The  discovery  of  the  Pacific  confirmed  the  truth  of  a 
part  of  Panquiaco’s  statement,  and  removed  any  doubt 
which  Vasco  Nunez  and  his  companions  may  have  had 
with  respect  to  the  rest  of  it.  They  believed  that  the 
shore  which  lay  before  them  was  the  place  of  which  they 
had  been  told,  where  the  ordinary  vessels  of  domestic  use 
were  made  of  gold,  and  where  any  desired  quantity  of  that 
metal  could  be  gathered.  No  other  incentive  was  needed 
to  induce  the  company  to  finish  the  march  in  the  shortest 
time  possible.  Vasco  Nunez  sent  out  three  parties  to 
find  out  the  shortest  route  to  the  shore.  The  little  party 
of  twelve  men,  commanded  by  Alonso  Martin  de  don 
Benito,  made  the  journey  in  two  days,  and  was  the  first  to 
reach  the  sea.  The  next  to  arrive  was  the  party  under 
the  command  of  Francisco  Pizarro  ; and  Vasco  Nunez 
with  his  company  arrived  a little  later,  when  he  took  formal 
possession  of  the  sea  and  all  of  its  shores  in  the  name  of  his 
sovereigns. 

The  journey  from  Cape  Tiburon  on  the  Atlantic,  across 
the  Isthmus,  to  the  Gulf  of  San  Miguel,  consumed  the 
whole  of  September.  The  greater  part  of  the  time  was 

them,  and  I count  as  one  of  them.”  Gaffarel,  Nunez  de  Balboa,  73- 
75  ; Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  49  ; Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xix.  487. 

On  the  discovery  of  the  Pacific  Xavier  Vergara  says  : ‘‘El  unico 
testimonio  indiscutible  de  ese  gran  suceso  se  encuentra  en  las  Adas 
del  Escribano  Valderrbbano,  que  acompanaba  la  expedicion,  y las 
escribio  sobre  el  terreno,  por  orden  del  ‘ magnifico  y muy  noble  senor 
el  Capitan  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  Gobernador  por  sus  Altezas  en  la 
Tierra  Firme,  para  que  del  y dellos  quedase  memoria.’  Segun  esas 
Actas,  la  gente  de  Balboa  solo  ascendi  a el  25  de  Septiembre  d 67  hombres ; 
en  la  cima  del  cerro  no  se  levanto  otro  monumento  que  una  cruz  muy 
alta ; el  nombre  de  San  Miguel  se  puso  al  Golfo,  por  devocion  de 
Balboa  y no  porque  ese  dia  se  llegara  a el;  27  hombres  fueron  los 
primeros  que  probaron  las  aguas  del  mar  del  Sur  ; 24  los  que  primero 
lo  navegaron,  y fue  el  22  de  Octubre  cuando  en  realidad  se  tomb 
posesion  del  Oceano  Pacifico.”  Vergara  y Velasco,  Capitulos  de  una 
historia  civil  y militar  de  Colombia  (Bogota,  1906),  2,  note  1. 

In  his  Memoria  (p.  344)  to  his  successor,  the  Duke  of  Palata  affirms 
that  the  ocean  discovered  by  Vasco  Nunez  was  called  the  Pacific, 
because,  by  reason  of  its  inaccessibility,  the  commerce  which  passed 
over  it  needed  no  armed  protection,  since  it  was  not  exposed  to 
hostility  from  any  source. 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


i5 


required  for  the  march  along  the  coast  and  up  the  eastern 
side  of  the  range  ; while  the  descent  from  the  summit  to 
the  Gulf  of  San  Miguel,  for  the  party  that  moved  most 
rapidly,  required  only  two  days. 

During  the  few  days  spent  in  excursions  about  the 
gulf,  the  Spaniards  collected  a certain  amount  of  gold, 
but  not  as  much  as  they  expected  to  find.  With  this 
gold,  and  a large  number  of  pearls,  they  turned  back  from 
the  Pacific,  and  recrossed  the  Isthmus.  This  journey  was 
marked  with  greater  hardships  than  their  previous  march. 
They  suffered  for  want  of  food  ; they  were  weakened  by 
exposure  under  the  most  unfavourable  climatic  con- 
ditions ; and  when  they  arrived  at  the  house  of  Pan- 
quiaco,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  headship  of  the  tribe 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  Comogue,  Vasco  Nunez  had 
to  be  carried  in  a hammock,  and  his  companions  were 
able  to  walk  only  when  supported  by  Indians.  After 
they  had  enjoyed  for  some  days  the  hospitality  of  Pan- 
quiaco  and  his  tribesmen,  they  felt  themselves  sufficiently 
recovered  to  go  on  to  La  Antigua,  where  food  and  other 
supplies  had  been  received  from  Santo  Domingo  a short 
time  before  their  arrival.  Vasco  Nunez  and  sixteen  of 
his  men  entered  the  village  in  triumph,  after  an  absence 
of  four  months,  bringing  richer  spoils  than  had  been  ac- 
quired on  any  previous  expedition.  They  had  gold  valued 
at  more  than  a hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  an  abund- 
ance of  pearls,  making  in  all  a sum  equivalent  to  more  than 
a million  specie  dollars  of  the  present. 

The  leader’s  satisfaction  with  the  results  of  the  expedi- 
tion was  increased  by  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  privations, 
disease,  and  the  temporary  hostility  of  some  of  the  Indians, 
he  had  not  lost  a man.  Vasco  Nunez,  at  this  point  of  his 
career,  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  good  fortune.  No  discovery 
since  those  made  by  Columbus  promised  more  fruitful 
consequences,  or  was  designed  to  give  greater  satisfaction 
to  the  authorities  of  Spain.  It  even  awakened  the  dull 
imagination  of  Ferdinand.  When  all  the  members  of  the 


16  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


expedition  had  arrived  at  La  Antigua,  the  fifths  of  the 
gold  and  the  pearls  were  set  apart,  and  Pedro  Arbolancha 
was  sent  to  Spain  to  present  them  to  the  king,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  solicit  for  Vasco  Nunez  the  governorship  of 
Castilla  de  Oro.  But  already,  before  the  arrival  of  Arbo- 
lancha, Pedro  Arias  Davila  had  been  appointed  to  the 
desired  post,  and  he  had  left  Spain  in  April  1514.  Vasco 
Nunez’s  messenger  did  not  reach  the  court  until  the  fol- 
lowing month.  This  unfortunate  turn  of  affairs  was 
largely  due  to  the  influence  of  Enciso’s  hostile  reports  and 
protests  at  the  court.1 

The  idle  men  in  the  early  Spanish  settlements  were 
often  a source  of  serious  embarrassment,  and  sometimes 
the  governors  or  chief  officers  of  such  settlements  caused 
expeditions  to  be  organised,  in  order  that  the  idlers, 
who  threatened  to  become  disturbers  of  the  peace,  might 
be  called  to  an  occupation  away  from  the  town.  This 
motive  was  not  wanting  in  the  expeditions  organised  by 
Vasco  Nunez  after  his  return  to  La  Antigua.  The  first 
was  led  by  Andres  Garavito,  and  was  designed  to  find  a 
direct  route  to  the  Pacific,  a route  that  would  obviate  the 
necessity  of  going  along  the  shore  to  Careta.  Somewhat 
later,  Vasco  Nunez  led  a company  of  about  three  hundred 
men  against  the  Caribs,  who  occupied  a region  towards 
the  south  on  the  Atrato  River.  It  was  expected  that 
they  would  offer  little  or  no  resistance,  and  in  the  first 
encounter  the  Indians  were  driven  away.  The  Spaniards 
then  proceeded  to  plunder  the  houses  abandoned  by  the 
enemy.  While  thus  scattered  throughout  the  village,  the 
Indians  took  advantage  of  their  disorganised  state,  and 


1 According  to  Markham’s  prophetic  vision,  “ had  the  news  of 
Balboa’s  success  reached  the  Spanish  Court  a few  months  earlier,  the 
fate  of  half  a continent  would  have  been  changed.  A young  and 
statesmanlike  ruler,  instead  of  a cruel  and  passionate  old  dotard, 
would  have  settled  the  Isthmus  of  Panama ; and  the  humane  and 
enlightened  Vasco  Nunez,  instead  of  the  ruthless  and  illiterate  Pizarro, 
would  have  been  the  conqueror  of  Peru."  Markham’s  Introduction 
to  Andagoya’s  Narrative,  xx. 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


i7 


returned  to  the  fight,  killing  or  wounding  more  than  a 
hundred  of  the  Spaniards.  The  leader  was  wounded 
twice,  and  withdrew  from  the  undertaking  defeated. 

IV 

During  the  period  of  these  expeditions,  information 
concerning  the  riches  of  Tierra  Firme  had  aroused  an 
unusual  enthusiasm  in  Spain.  The  court  was  moved  to 
fit  out  a fleet  larger  than  any  that  had  hitherto  been  sent 
to  America.  It  was  composed  of  nineteen  ships,  and 
carried  fifteen  hundred  men,  besides  the  crews  and  a num- 
ber of  women.  It  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Pedro 
Arias  Davila  (Pedrarias),  appointed  to  be  the  governor 
of  Castilla  de  Oro.  Like  many  other  expeditions  sent  by 
Spain  to  America,  this  one  embraced  a considerable  num- 
ber of  persons  who  were  quite  out  of  place  under  the  semi- 
savage conditions  of  civilisation’s  new  frontier ; men 
who  had  contracted  debts  in  order  to  equip  themselves 
for  a campaign  in  Italy,  which  was  expected  to  be  attended 
with  great  display,  but  which  was  never  undertaken.  In 
an  evil  hour  they  were  drawn  into  this  great  expedition, 
where,  without  funds,  and  without  the  necessary  practical 
knowledge,  they  became  useless  and  burdensome  members 
of  the  new  community. 

The  fleet  left  Spain,  April  12,  1514,  and,  near  the  end 
of  May,  arrived  at  the  port  of  Santa  Marta,  and  a few  days 
later  reached  the  Gulf  of  Uraba.  Some  of  Vasco  Nunez’s 
companions  thought  that,  with  their  force  of  four  hundred 
men,  they  might  prevent,  and  ought  to  prevent,  the  forces 
of  Pedrarias  from  landing  ; he,  however,  suppressed  all 
agitation  that  seemed  to  contemplate  such  a purpose  ; 
and,  gathering  the  members  of  his  community  together, 
went  to  the  shore  to  receive  the  new  leader.  Commenting 
on  Vasco  Nunez’s  narration  of  the  events  connected  with 
the  discovery  of  the  Pacific,  Pedrarias  expressed  the  wish 
to  make  the  passage  from  one  ocean  to  the  other  safe, 

VOL.  1.  B 


i8  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


and  to  this  end  proposed  to  establish  three  presidios,  or 
military  posts,  on  the  road  across  the  Isthmus.1 

The  new  governor,  who  was  ordinarily  known  as  Ped- 
rarias,  was  attended  by  Hernando  Fuenmayor  as  maestre 
de  campo,  and  by  a council  which  included,  among  others, 
Gonzalo  Fernandez  de  Oviedo,  the  author  of  the  Historia 
General  de  las  Indias,  and  the  friar,  Juan  de  Quevedo, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  be  the  Bishop  of  Castilla  de 
Oro.  The  arrival  of  Pedrarias  imposed  upon  Vasco  Nunez 
the  obligation  to  submit  himself  to  the  residencia,  or  a 
judicial  examination  of  charges  brought  against  him  with 
reference  to  his  public  acts.  This  was  conducted  by  Espi- 
nosa, the  alcalde-mayor,  and,  as  a result  of  it,  the  discoverer 
of  the  Pacific  was  absolved  from  most  of  the  charges  that 
had  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  judge.  He  was 
pardoned  for  his  usurpation  of  the  government  of  Nicuesa, 
and  for  his  revolt  against  Enciso.  He  was,  however,  re- 
quired to  surrender  some  thousands  of  dollars  that  had 
been  confiscated  from  Enciso,  when  he  supplanted  that 
officer  in  the  government  of  the  colony.  Pedrarias 
would  have  been  pleased  if  a severer  sentence  had  been 
rendered,  a sentence  that  would  have  eliminated  the 
accused  as  a rival ; for  the  hostility  prompted  by  jealousy 
which  appeared  in  many  cases  among  rival  leaders  in  the 
New  World,  became  manifest  very  early  between  Pedrarias 
and  Vasco  Nunez.  The  governor  proposed  to  conduct 
the  affairs  of  the  colony  without  availing  himself  of  Vasco 
Nunez’s  knowledge  or  experience.  But  the  actual  con- 
dition of  the  settlement  demanded  the  exercise  of  all  the 
wisdom  that  might  be  obtained  from  any  source.  More 
than  fifteen  hundred  persons  were  added  to  a community 
where  only  inadequate  provision  was  made  for  the  original 
population  of  four  or  five  hundred.  There  was  lack  of 

1 Among  those  who  arrived  with  Pedrarias  were,  Juan  de  Quevedo, 
the  bishop,  Gonzalo  Fernandez  de  Oviedo  y Vald6s,  the  historian, 
Martin  Fernandez  de  Enciso,  the  geographer,  Sebastian  de  Benal- 
cazar,  the  conquistador  of  Quito  and  Popayan,  Hernando  de  Soto, 
the  explorer,  and  Pascual  de  Andagoya,  the  governor  of  New  Castile. 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


19 


food,  and  “ men  of  noble  birth  were  seen  in  the  streets  of 
La  Antigua  offering  their  rich  clothing  of  brocades  and 
silks  in  exchange  for  a piece  of  corn  bread.”  1 

Fever  became  epidemic,  and  about  seven  hundred 
soldiers  died  within  two  months.  Pedrarias  left  the 
village  to  seek  a more  healthful  place  of  abode,  and 
granted  many  of  his  men  permission  to  return  to  Spain. 

Seeing  his  forces  gradually  diminishing,  Pedrarias 
determined  to  make  excursions  into  the  neighbouring 
country  while  he  was  still  able  to  command  the  requisite 
number  of  men.  These  excursions  were  not  undertaken 
for  the  sake  of  discovery,  but  simply  for  the  sake  of  rob- 
bery. The  friendly  relations  which  Vasco  Nunez  had 
laboured  to  establish  with  the  Indians  were  disregarded, 
and  every  consideration  of  honour  and  humanity  was 
made  to  yield  to  the  single  purpose  to  acquire  gold.  The 
soldiers  became  bandits,  and  stole  everything  upon  which 
they  could  lay  their  hands — even  the  cotton  rags  which 
the  Indians  wore  about  their  bodies — and  finally  they  seized 
the  Indians  themselves  and  sold  them  as  slaves.  The  his- 
tory of  these  years  in  this  colony  is  painfully  full  of  in- 
stances of  treachery  and  deceit ; of  chiefs  coming  with 
gifts  to  receive  the  Spaniards  only  to  find  themselves 
robbed,  their  houses  plundered,  and  their  families  carried 
off  into  hopeless  bondage. 


V 

But  some  of  the  tribes  were  aroused  to  offer  a vigorous 
resistance  to  the  encroachment  of  the  Spaniards.  Vasco 
Nunez’s  letter  to  the  king,  dated  October  16,  1515,  gives 
expression  to  this  hostility,  and  affords  glimpses  of  the 
condition  of  affairs  on  the  Isthmus.  It  also  throws  light 
on  the  character  of  Pedrarias  : 

“ The  caciques  and  the  Indians,  who  were  like  lambs, 
1 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  62. 


20  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


have  been  turned  into  furious  lions.  Their  sentiments 
have  so  completely  changed  that  to-day  they  are  embol- 
dened to  steal  and  to  kill  the  Christians,  before  whom  they 
formerly  never  appeared,  except  with  their  hands  full  of 
gifts.  Such  is  the  consequence  of  the  treatment  to  which 
they  have  been  made  to  submit  by  the  captains  who  have 
been  sent  here.  They  have  murdered  without  cause  num- 
bers of  the  caciques  and  Indians,  and  they  have  rendered 
themselves  culpable  by  stealing  not  only  their  farms,  but 
also  their  children  and  their  wives.  . . . The  first  captain 
sent  on  an  expedition  into  the  interior  was  Juan  de  Ayora. 
If  he  had  been  punished  for  his  numerous  exactions  from 
the  Indians,  who  were  at  peace  with  us,  the  other  captains 
who  commanded  later  expeditions  would  not  have  had  the 
audacity  to  commit  all  the  excesses  and  all  the  crimes  with 
which  they  have  stained  this  continent.  ...  I can,  in 
all  sincerity,  assure  your  Highness  that  in  certain  districts, 
where  the  caciques  have  been  in  the  habit  of  offering  pre- 
sents of  gold,  and  have  done  this  two  or  three  times,  and 
have  brought  provisions  as  well,  the  captains  have  gone 
to  the  places  where  they  kept  their  women,  their  pro- 
visions, and  their  gold,  and  there  pillaged  everything,  re- 
ducing all  persons  to  slavery  without  any  conscience.  It 
happened  that  one  day  a cacique  gave  a present  of  eighteen 
hundred  pesos  of  gold,  and  at  the  same  time  a Spanish 
captain  stole  from  him  his  provisions  and  three  thousand 
pesos,  took  his  children  and  women,  and  reduced  them  to 
servitude.  All  these  crimes,  and  others  graver  still,  have 
remained  unpunished.  For  that  reason  there  is  not  a 
cacique  or  an  Indian  in  all  the  region  who  is  at  peace  with 
us,  except  the  cacique  of  Careta,  who  pretends  to  be  so 
because  he  is  our  immediate  neighbour.  It  is,  therefore 
necessary,  your  Highness,  and  it  will  be  a wise  adminis- 
trative act,  to  send  some  one  empowered  to  make  an  in- 
quiry into  what  has  happened.  As  soon  as  your  Majesty 
is  informed  of  the  state  of  things,  you  will  take  the  neces- 
sary measures.  I am  able  to  swear,  your  Highness,  that 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


21 


if  this  state  of  affairs  continues  even  a year  longer,  the 
country  will  be  absolutely  ruined,  and  nothing  can  be  done 
to  remedy  it.  . . . Behold,  your  Highness,  what  events 
have  transpired  since  my  last  letter.  A captain  left  here 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty  men.  He  went  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Uraba,  and  advanced  about  twenty  leagues  into 
the  interior  of  the  country.  But  the  Indians  surprised 
them  and  massacred  fifty  of  them.  The  others  have 
returned,  worn  out  and  in  a miserable  condition  ; how- 
ever, they  have  brought  back  three  thousand  pesos  of 
gold.  Another  captain  crossed  the  Gulf  of  St.  Miguel, 
and  landed  at  the  island  of  Rica,  in  the  archipelago  of  the 
pearls.  He  had  taken  eighty  men  with  him.  The  Indians 
killed  twenty-five  of  them.  The  survivors  were  obliged 
to  retreat  fighting,  and  to  return  here.  Your  Majesty 
should  know  that  an  act  of  abominable  cruelty  was  com- 
mitted on  this  expedition,  so  cruel  that  even  the  Arabs  or 
any  other  people  in  their  conflicts  with  the  Christians 
never  permitted  anything  like  it.  On  returning  with  the 
men  who  had  escaped,  and  with  about  one  hundred  Indian 
men  and  women,  for  the  most  part  women  and  little  chil- 
dren, all  chained  together,  the  captain,  named  Gaspar 
Morales,  and  who  is  of  the  suite  of  the  governor,  gave  the 
order  to  cut  off  the  heads  of  all  of  the  prisoners,  puttingthem 
all  to  the  sword  so  effectually  that  not  one  Indian,  man, 
woman,  or  child,  escaped,  except  those  who  were  reserved 
by  the  captain  for  himself,  and  a few  Indian  women  of  the 
isle  of  Rica.  As  a result,  continuing  the  journey,  they 
were  surprised  by  a cacique,  and  they  lost  a number  of 
men,  who  were  very  cruelly  massacred.  ...  In  the 
month  of  June  1515,  I wrote  to  your  Highness  that  I was 
going  into  the  province  of  Dobaiba,  taking  two  hundred 
men,  with  the  intention  of  reaching,  if  it  might  be  pleasing 
to  God,  a country  where  we  thought  would  be  discovered 
the  greatest  amount  of  wealth  to  be  found  in  these  regions. 
I departed  from  here  with  one  hundred  and  eighty  men, 
and  went  to  the  province  of  Dobaiba,  and  we  entered  into 


22  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


a somewhat  important  village,  where  the  natives  fled  on 
our  approach.  We  caught  some  of  them,  who  guided  us 
to  the  house  of  the  cacique,  who  had  also  taken  flight.  We 
met  some  persons  who  informed  us  that  there  were  mines 
in  the  interior  of  the  country  ; that  the  province  of 
Dobaiba  was  full  of  gold ; and  that  within  ten  days’ 
march  from  where  we  were  there  were  rich  mines  where 
all  the  caciques  went  to  get  gold.  I waited  ten  days  for 
the  cacique,  without  being  able  to  get  into  communication 
with  him.  I was  obliged  to  return  because  there  was 
nothing  to  eat  at  Dobaiba  ; the  grasshoppers  had  de- 
voured everything.  . . . 

“ We  left  that  place  to  go  up  the  Rio  Grande  to  look 
for  provisions,  wfliich  we  intended  to  leave  in  the  boats 
before  going  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  We  agreed 
that  one  party  should  go  to  the  province  of  Ibebeiva,  while 
I should  proceed  towards  a village  of  fishermen,  which  was 
two  days’  march  from  there.  Luis  Carillo  got  into  one 
boat  and  I into  another  ; and,  with  two  other  boat- 
loads, we  were  about  fifty  men.  Unfortunately,  we  en- 
countered seven  or  eight  boats  full  of  Indian  warriors  ; 
and  as  the  Christians,  especially  those  recently  arrived 
from  Castile,  did  not  know  how  to  manage  the  boats,  the 
Indians  attacked  us  with  their  spears,  and,  before  we  could 
turn  ourselves  around,  thirty  of  our  men  were  wounded, 
some  of  them  in  four  or  five  places.  As  for  me,  I received 
a blow  on  the  head,  which  placed  me  in  great  danger,  but, 
thank  God,  I have  recovered.  Yet  I lost  my  boat.  Not 
being  able  to  land  it,  I was  obliged  to  abandon  it.  Luis 
Carillo  and  those  in  the  other  two  boats  succeeded  in 
beaching  their  boats,  and  then  they  defended  themselves- 
It  pleased  God  that  Carillo  should  receive  the  thrust  of  a 
sword  in  the  chest,  from  which  he  died  on  his  return  here. 
They  lost  also  two  other  men. 

“ On  this  account  we  returned  to  the  place  where  we 
had  left  the  rest  of  the  company,  who  had  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  procuring  food,  and  we  even  were  prevented  from 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


23 


giving  them  any  because  there  was  very  little  in  the 
country,  on  account  of  the  grasshoppers.  I resolved,  after 
consulting  the  officers  and  other  persons  who  had  come 
with  me,  to  return  to  Santa  Maria,  because,  for  the  time 
being,  there  were  no  resources,  and,  if  we  should  venture 
farther  into  the  interior,  famine  would  carry  off  the  greater 
part  of  our  men.  In  spite  of  this  obstacle,  we  did  not  lose 
courage,  because  at  present  we  have  certain  knowledge  of 
the  riches  of  this  country.  Therefore,  when  we  can  get 
more  boats  and  provisions,  we  shall,  with  God’s  help,  return. 
Your  Majesty  will  receive  adverse  reports  concerning 
this  project,  but  I beg  you  will  not  give  credit  to  such 
statements,  for  they  are  founded  on  envy  and  ill-will.  . . . 

“ In  regard  to  the  affairs  of  the  government  and  coloni- 
sation, Pedrarias  would  do  well  to  pay  more  attention  to 
advice  than  he  does  at  present.  If,  by  chance,  any  one 
tries  to  counsel  him,  he  thinks  he  is  being  deceived.  He  is 
suspicious  of  everyone,  excepting  such  persons  as  he  thinks 
may  be  useful  to  him.  On  various  occasions  he  has  been 
unduly  severe  with  the  regidores  because  they  made  cer- 
tain suggestions  to  him,  which  were  for  the  good  of  your 
Majesty’s  service,  and  for  the  benefit  of  public  affairs.  He 
treats  in  this  manner  all  who  have  the  courage  to  contra- 
dict him.  There  is  no  man  in  the  world  who  is  so  devoured 
by  jealousy  and  greed.  Nothing  irritates  him  so  much 
as  to  see  a friendly  feeling  manifested  among  gentlemen. 
He  likes  to  hear  persons  say  evil  things  of  one  another. 
He  is  a man  who,  without  reflection,  believes  in  evil  rather 
than  in  goodness.  In  the  administration  of  affairs  he  is 
neither  orderly  nor  energetic,  and  he  is  without  capacity. 
In  a word,  he  is  a man  who,  in  the  opinion  of  everyone,  in 
order  to  gain  a peso  of  gold,  would  neglect  your  Majesty’s 
service  and  forget  his  own  honour.”  1 

1 An  English  translation  of  an  earlier  letter  by  Balboa  to  the 
king,  dated  January  20,  1513,  is  printed  in  Markham’s  Introduction 
to  Andagoya’s  Navvative.  The  original  form  of  this  letter  of 
October  16,  1515,  is  printed  in  Doc.  inid.,  ii.  526-38.  A French 
translation  of  it  is  found  in  Gaffarel,  Nunez  de  Balboa , 113-27. 


24  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

While  it  is  possible  that  Vasco  Nunez’s  criticism  of 
Pedrarias  may  have  been  sharpened  somewhat  by  the 
rivalry  of  these  leaders,  there  is  no  doubt  that  these  ex- 
tracts from  this  letter  convey  a true  intimation  of  his 
desire  for  peaceful  relations  with  the  Indians.  If  the 
Indians  were  suspicious  and  hostile,  this  was  a state  of 
things  for  which  the  Europeans,  here  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
were  usually  responsible.  By  the  peculiar  facilities  for 
communication  possessed  by  the  natives,  the  outrages  of 
one  district  were  speedily  known  elsewhere.  When,  there- 
fore, an  expedition  was  sent  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  Gulf 
of  Uraba,  the  Indians  there  were  found  to  be  not  less  re- 
solute than  others  in  their  own  defence.  Of  the  seventy 
men  led  against  them  by  Francisco  Vallejo,  forty-eight 
were  lost  ; and  in  the  punitive  campaign  which  Francisco 
Becerra  undertook  against  the  victors,  practically  all  of 
the  one  hundred  and  eighty  men  of  the  force  were  cut  off. 
Here,  as  in  all  their  dealings  with  the  Indians,  the 
Spaniards  experienced  much  ill-fortune  in  their  departure 
from  the  way  of  peace  and  conciliation. 

During  the  years  1515  and  1516,  the  territory  of  the 
Isthmus  between  the  Gulf  of  Uraba  and  Nombre  de  Dios 
was  overrun  by  various  companies  in  search  of  the  gold 
to  be  found  in  the  possession  of  the  chiefs  who  occupied 
this  region.  In  these  campaigns  horses  were  first  used  on 
the  continent  by  the  Spaniards.  The  Indians  were  terri- 
fied by  them,  for  they  believed  they  would  bite  like  the 
dogs  that  on  other  occasions  had  caused  havoc  among 
them.  In  this  period  were  founded  the  fort  and  settle- 
ment of  Ada,  and,  at  the  same  time,  under  Pedrarias’ 
orders,  Gonzalo  Badajos  went  to  Nombre  de  Dios,  hoping 
to  establish  a route  from  that  point  to  the  South  Sea,  which 
would  not  be  infested  by  hostile  Indians.  At  Nombre  de 
Dios  he  found  the  site  of  the  previous  settlement  covered 
with  the  bones  of  Nicuesa’s  men  who  had  perished  there 
by  starvation  and  fever.  Finding  his  soldiers  frightened 
by  this  horrible  spectacle,  and  determined  to  return,  he 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


25 


sent  away  his  ship  immediately,  thus  leaving  them  no 
alternative  but  to  follow  him.  For  thirty  days  he  con- 
tinued his  campaign  against  the  rich  caciques  of  the 
Isthmus,  with  varying  vicissitudes,  and,  at  the  end  of  this 
period,  entered  La  Antigua  with  less  than  half  of  his  men, 
and  with  only  insignificant  spoils. 


VI 

It  was  in  this  period  that  Bishop  Quevedo  undertook 
to  set  aside  the  hostility  that  had  arisen  between  the 
governor  and  Vasco  Nunez,  by  arranging  a marriage 
agreement  between  the  latter  and  Pedrarias’  daughter  ; 
and  when  this  was  accomplished,  the  bishop  fancied  that 
his  object  had  been  attained.  When  this  understanding 
had  been  reached,  the  discoverer  of  the  Pacific  set  out  for 
the  southern  shore  of  the  Isthmus  with  eighty  volunteers. 
He  proceeded  by  way  of  Acla,  where  he  found  the  post 
almost  entirely  depopulated.  Already  he  had  formed  a 
plan  to  visit  the  region  towards  the  south,  which  was  re- 
ported to  abound  in  gold.  Knowing  the  lack  of  timber  on 
the  southern  coast  suitable  for  building  ships,  he  determined 
to  take  it  from  the  forests  near  Acla,  have  it  carried  over 
the  mountains  by  Indians,  and  cause  it  to  be  floated  down 
a river  that  emptied  into  the  Pacific.  In  this  enterprise 
Vasco  Nunez  encountered  grave  difficulties.  The  timber 
gathered  at  first  proved  to  be  useless,  and  this  part  of  the 
work  had  to  be  done  again.  Here  a new  embarrassment 
was  encountered  in  the  reduced  number  of  Indians  in  his 
service  ; for  more  than  one-half  of  the  original  number 
engaged  had  perished  under  the  severe  labour  of  carrying 
the  heavy  timber.  Two  vessels  were  finally  completed  ; 
and  this  fact,  apparently  indicating  Vasco  Nunez’s  deter- 
mination to  proceed  to  the  conquest  of  the  rich  country 
to  which  Panquiaco  had  referred,  magnified  the  jealousy  of 
Pedrarias,  and  filled  him  with  fear  lest  the  brilliant  ex- 


26  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


ploits  of  his  rival  would  bring  into  clear  light  his  own  in- 
effectiveness and  the  unimportant  achievements  of  his 
four  years  on  the  Isthmus.  This  jealousy  furnished  the 
principal  motive  of  a tragedy  which  cut  off  in  his  best 
years  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  truly  heroic  characters 
of  this  heroic  age. 

When  Pedrarias  had  definitely  determined  upon  the  de- 
struction of  Vasco  Nunez,  he  complimented  him  on  his 
achievements  and  his  prospects,  greeted  him  with  mani- 
festations of  affection  as  his  dear  “ son-in-law,”  and  called 
him  to  Acla  for  an  interview.  He  wished  to  discuss  the 
proposed  voyage,  and  give  certain  final  instructions  which 
it  would  not  be  discreet  to  entrust  to  a messenger  in  written 
form.  Vasco  Nunez  at  once  acceded  to  the  request,  and 
hastened  to  Acla,  where  Pedrarias  immediately  caused 
him  to  be  imprisoned,  and  charged  with  seeking  to  make 
himself  independent  of  the  king  in  the  lands  which  he  dis- 
covered. In  spite  of  the  lack  of  evidence  to  substantiate 
the  charge,  Vasco  Nunez  was  condemned  to  death.  Es- 
pinosa, the  alcalde-mayor,  protested  against  the  execution 
of  this  sentence,  holding  that  even  if  the  prisoner  were 
guilty  of  a capital  offence,  his  great  services  entitled  him 
to  considerate  treatment.  Pedrarias,  however,  immedi- 
ately issued  a written  order  that  he  should  be  executed 
without  delay.  Neither  the  protests  of  Vasco  Nunez  nor 
the  sympathy  of  the  colony  with  him  had  any  effect  on 
the  governor,  who,  in  committing  this  murder,  was  un- 
fortunately protected  by  the  prerogatives  of  his  position. 
But  this  outrageous  crime  made  a sufficient  impression 
on  the  king  to  induce  him  to  recall  Pedrarias  ; and 
he  appointed  Lope  de  Sosa,  the  governor  of  the  Canary 
Islands,  to  succeed  him.  Sosa  died  almost  immediately 
after  his  arrival  in  Darien,  and  the  case  against  Pedrarias, 
falling  into  the  hands  of  persons  dominated  by  him,  ended 
in  a mockery  of  justice.1 

1 Acosta,  Neuva  Granada , cap.  iv.  ; Gaffarel,  Nunez  de  Balboa, 
chap.  xi. ; Pierre  Martyr,  Dec.  Ill,  chap.  i. ; Quintana,  Vasco  Nunez  de 


CASTILLA  DE  ORO 


27 


Irritated  by  his  dependence  on  a municipal  council, 
Pedrarias,  in  1518,  determined  to  retire  to  the  southern 
shore.  Here  he  found  the  vessels  constructed  by  Vasco 
Nunez,  and  sailed  off  in  them  as  far  as  the  island  of  Taboga. 
But  no  advantage  accrued  to  him  or  to  anyone  else  from 
this  voyage.  He  lacked  the  spirit  to  seize  the  great  oppor- 
tunity before  him,  and  enter  upon  the  undertaking  that 
had  appealed  to  the  imagination  of  Vasco  Nunez  and  awak- 
ened the  ambition  of  Pizarro.  He  founded  the  city  of 
Panama,  and,  in  1519,  he  received  from  the  court  permis- 
sion to  transfer  thither  the  cathedral  and  the  population 
of  La  Antigua  of  Darien.  This  city,  the  first  permanent 
settlement  in  the  new  kingdom  of  Granada,  became  later 
especially  conspicuous  by  reason  of  its  position  at  the 
southern  end  of  the  route  across  the  Isthmus,  which  was 
finally  adopted  as  a section  of  the  line  of  traffic  between 
Spain  and  Peru. 

The  prosperity  of  Castilla  de  Oro  had  been  chiefly  due 
to  the  energy  and  practical  wisdom  of  Vasco  Nunez,  and 
with  his  death  the  affairs  of  the  colony  fell  into  a more  or 
less  stagnant  condition.  The  more  active  minds,  dis- 
satisfied with  their  prospects  on  the  Isthmus,  turned  to 
further  exploration  and  conquests  ; and  they  were  urged 
to  these  undertakings  by  the  persistent  rumours  of  a rich 
kingdom  farther  towards  the  south.  With  Vasco  Nunez 
dead,  and  the  governor  incompetent  to  initiate  a great 
enterprise,  the  way  was  clearly  open  for  new  adventurers 
to  enter  the  field.  It  was  under  these  conditions  that 
Pizarro,  Almagro,  and  Luque  formed  their  agreement  to 
explore  the  region  along  the  southern  coast,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, to  bring  to  light  the  wealth  which  was  said  to  be  there 
concealed. 

The  cases  of  Columbus  and  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa 

Balboa , in  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.  (Madrid  (Rivadeneyra),  1852),  xix.  281-300. 
In  Capitulos  de  una  historia  civil  y militar  de  Colombia , pp.  1-6,  Javier 
Vergara  y Velasco  presents  evidence  that  Vasco  Nunez  was  executed 
in  1518,  and  not  in  1517,  the  date  given  by  many  writers. 


28  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


offer  two  conspicuous  instances  of  the  failure  of  the  Spanish 
Government  to  deal  justly  with  its  most  distinguished  sub- 
jects. These  men  undoubtedly  had  some  of  the  weak- 
nesses of  our  common  heritage,  but  they  conferred  upon 
the  nation  they  served  honour  and  opportunity  which  no 
other  nation  ever  enjoyed  ; yet  it  was  the  fate  of  both  to 
fall  as  victims  of  governmental  ingratitude  and  perver- 
sity. There  was  nothing  in  the  experience  of  the  king 
on  which  he  could  rely  for  guidance  in  affairs  of  which  the 
Old  World  had  no  knowledge  ; and  the  character  of  the 
information,  the  petitions  and  the  advice  which  reached 
him  was  naturally  determined  by  the  purposes  and  anti- 
pathies of  the  persons  from  whom  it  was  received.  The 
long  intervals  between  the  arrivals  of  vessels  from  America 
often  induced  the  king  to  act  without  waiting  for  con- 
firmation or  support  for  information  or  advice  sent  from 
the  Indies.  For  this  reason  action  was  sometimes  taken 
on  prejudiced  advice,  resulting  in  grave  injury  to  a worthy 
person,  or  in  detriment  to  the  common  weal.  Yet,  in 
spite  of  the  difficulties  of  communication,  and  the  male- 
volence of  subordinates,  it  is  impossible  to  absolve  the 
Crown  from  blame  for  the  humiliation  of  Columbus  or 
from  indifference  to  the  tragic  fate  of  the  discoverer  of 
the  Pacific. 


CHAPTER  II 


EXPLORATION  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF 
NEW  ANDALUCIA 

I.  Pearl-fishing  and  the  slave-trade.  II.  The  early  missions.  III. 
Ocampo’s  campaign.  IV.  Las  Casas’  colony.  V.  Sedeiio.  VI. 
Diego  de  Ordaz  and  the  exploration  of  the  Orinoco.  VII.  Diego 
Francisco  de  Serpa. 


I 

The  territory  known  as  Nueva  Andalucia  was  that  which 
forms  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  republic  of  Venezuela. 
It  extended  from  the  eastern  coast  of  Paria  and  the 
Dragon’s  Mouths  on  the  east  to  the  river  Unare,  which 
separated  it  from  the  province  of  Venezuela,  on  the  west. 
The  northern  boundary  was  the  ocean,  but  the  southern 
boundary  was  undefined,  and  was  regarded  as  lying  some- 
where in  the  Orinoco  region.  Its  capital  was  the  town 
of  Cumana.1 

For  several  years  after  the  first  explorations,  the 
northern  part  of  South  America  was  favourably  considered 
chiefly  for  the  slaves  which  it  furnished  ; in  fact,  “ all 
of  America  then  discovered  was  converted  into  a vast 
slave-market,”  2 and  the  few  tribes  that  were  not  exploited 
in  this  way  were  those  that  were  able  to  defend  them- 
selves and  their  liberty  with  their  poisoned  arrows. 

Many  of  the  slaves  who  were  not  taken  to  Santo  Do- 
mingo were  employed  in  pearl-fishing.  This  industry  led 
to  the  establishment  of  a town  on  the  island  of  Cubagua, 

1 Demarcation  y division  de  las  Indias,  Doc.  inid.,  xv.  438. 
This  document,  of  130  pages,  contains  a geographical  description  of 
the  district  and  towns  of  the  Indies. 

2 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  22  ; Humbert,  Les  origines  vinizui. 
liennes  (Paris,  1905),  31. 


29 


3o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

off  the  northern  coast  of  Venezuela.  This  town  was  called 
New  Cadiz,  and  its  early  prosperity  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  royal  fifths  set  apart  for  the  treasury 
amounted  in  1509  to  15,000  ducats.  Enslaving  the  Carib 
Indians  was  permitted  under  the  law  of  1503,  and  in  the 
eyes  of  the  settlers  every  Indian  was  a Carib.  But  New 
Cadiz  flourished  for  a period,  and,  with  its  solidly-con- 
structed houses,  had  the  appearance  of  a well-established 
town.  In  1527  the  emperor  granted  the  inhabitants  the 
right  to  elect  an  alcalde,  who  would  have  the  authority  of 
a judge  in  civil  and  criminal  cases.  There  was  also  created 
a council  of  eight  regidores,  whose  authority  extended  over 
the  whole  island  of  Cubagua.1 

1 The  regidores  were : Giraldo  de  Vierne,  Andres  Fernando, 

Vicente  Davila,  Francisco  de  Portillo,  Alonso  de  Rojas,  Pedro  de 
Alegria,  Martin  de  Ochandiano,  and  Juan  Lopez  de  Archuleta.  Ochan- 
diano  acted  as  treasurer  of  the  island,  and  Archuleta  was  made  veedor — 
comptroller,  or  inspector,  of  the  finances.  Humbert,  Origines,  193  ; 
Rojas,  A.,  Estudios  historicos,  Caracas,  1891,  18. 

Codazzi,  Agustin,  Resumen  de  la  geografia  de  Venezuela  (Paris,  1841) 
258  ; Rojas,  A.,  Estudios  historicos,  6-10  ; “ Y Cubagua,  depues  de 
cincuenta  anos  de  haber  sido  descubierta  por  Colon,  volvio  d.  ser  lo  que 
en  los  tiempos  prehistoricos,”  ibid.  9.  Las  Casas  referred  to  the  pearl- 
fishing as  an  instance  of  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  Indians  by  the 
Spaniards : 

" The  tyrannie  which  the  Spanish  exercise  over  the  Indians,  to 
fish  for  Pearles,  is  one  of  the  crudest  that  is  in  the  world.  There  is 
no  hell  in  this  life,  nor  other  desperate  state  in  this  world,  that  may 
be  compared  unto  it : although  that  the  Trade  of  Gold  finding  be,  in 
his  kind,  very  grievous,  and  very  miserable.  They  let  them  into  the 
Sea,  three,  foure,  or  five  fathome  forth  downe  right  under  water,  from 
the  morning  untill  Sun-set,  where  they  are  continually  flitting  without 
stint,  to  plucke  Oysters,  in  the  which  are  engendered  the  Pearles. 
They  surge  up  above  the  waters,  with  a Net  full  of  Oysters  to  take 
breath  : where  standeth  readie  a Spanish  Tormentor,  in  a little  Cocke 
Boate,  or  a Brigantine,  and  if  the  poore  wretches  stay  never  so  little 
while  to  rest  themselves  : they  all  do  be  buffet  them  with  their  fists 
and  draw  them  by  the  haire  into  the  water  to  returne  to  their  fishing. 
Their  sustenance  is  fish,  and  the  same  very  fish  which  containeth  the 
Pearles,  and  the  bread  Ca5abi,  or  some  Maiz,  which  are  the  kinds  of 
bread  of  that  Countrie,  the  one  of  very  slender  nourishment,  the  other 
is  not  easie  to  bee  made  into  bread,  of  the  which  also,  they  never  give 
them  their  belly  full.  The  beds  that  they  lodge  them  in  a nights, 
is  to  set  them  by  the  heeles,  their  bodies  recoyling  on  the  cold  ground, 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


3i 


The  first  expedition  of  filibusters  in  Venezuelan  waters 
appeared  off  Cubagua  in  1528.  It  was  directed  by  the 
French,  and  consisted  of  three  vessels  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty  men.  One  of  the  vessels,  a caravel,  had  been  taken 
from  the  Portuguese  on  the  sea.  Oviedo  y Valdez  and 
Herrera  present  more  or  less  contradictory  accounts  of 
the  achievements  of  the  French  on  this  occasion,  but  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  they  exerted  no  serious  influence 
on  the  business  of  the  island.  Hereafter  the  pearl- 
fisheries  of  the  island  of  Coche,  which  had  been  granted  to 
Archuleta,  the  veei^or,  successfully  rivalled  those  of  Cu- 
bagua. But  the  inhabitants  of  Cubagua  established 
posts  on  the  minland,  and  found  an  additional  source  of 
income  in  the  slave  trade.  Indians  were  captured  and 
taken  to  Cubagua  for  sale,  and  this  island  became  the  first 
great  slave-market  in  the  New  World.1 

The  trade  in  Indian  slaves  was  practically  confined 
to  America,  and  pearls  remained  the  most  important 
articles  of  the  early  commerce  between  Spain  and  Tierra 
Firme  ; but  the  products  of  the  pearl  fisheries  diminished 
rapidly  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and' 
before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  industry  had 
ceased.  The  beds  of  the  oysters  that  had  produced  the 
pearls  had  become  exhausted.  The  demand  for  them, 


in  a paire  of  stockes  for  feare  of  running  away.  Sometimes  they  are 
drowned  in  the  Sea,  and  at  their  fishing  and  travell  picking  of  Pearles, 
and  never  rise  up  againe  above  the  water  : because  the  Bunches 
(Sharkes)  and  whirlepooles  dde  kill  them  and  eate  them.”  Casas, 
Bartolome  de  las,  Brevissima  relation  de  la  destruycion  de  las  Indias, 
Sevilla,  1552.  This  quotation  is  from  the  translation  entitled,  A briefe 
Narration  of  the  destruction  of  the  Indies  by  the  Spaniards  ; written 
by  a Frier  Bart,  de  las  Casas,  a Spaniard,  and  Bishop  of  Chiapa  in 
America”  (in  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes  (London,  1625),  lib.  viii.  chap.  4; 
also  in  the  same  work,  Glasgow,  1906,  xviii.  134.).  On  the  making 
of  ca<;abi,  or  casava,  bread  from  the  roots  of  yuca,  &c.,  see  Juan  and 
Ulloa,  A Voyage  to  South  America  (London,  1760),  i.  68;  i.  126-8, 
for  description  of  pearl-fishing  off  Panama  ; Depons,  Voyage  d la  Terre- 
Ferme  (Paris,  1806),  ii.  340. 

1 Rojas,  A.,  Estudios  hist6ricos,  20,  26  ; Humbert,  Les  origines 
vinizudliennes,  197-9. 


32  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

moreover,  was  somewhat  lessened  by  the  use  of  diamonds  ; 
and  in  the  meantime  the  Venetians  had  carried  to  great 
perfection  the  art  of  making  imitations  of  the  finest  pearls. 
With  the  cessation  of  pearl-fishing,  the  wealth  of  Cu- 
bagua  disappeared.  After  1533  it  was  not  important, 
and,  ten  years  later,  the  island  was  overwhelmed  by  the 
sea.  It  was  ruined  by  the  earthquake  and  the  hurricane 
but  its  declining  population  continued  to  carry  on  a 
diminishing  trade  in  slaves  until  1550,  when  Cubagua  was 
finally  abandoned,  and  became  what  it  has  since  remained, 
a desert  island  without  vegetation,  without  water,  and 
without  resources  of  any  kind.1 


II 

In  1510  the  Dominican  friars,  Pedro  de  Cordova  and 
Juan  Garces,  undertook  to  form  a settlement  on  the  main- 
land of  South  America,  shortly  after  the  establishment  of 
the  order  in  Santo  Domingo.  Antonio  de  Montesinos,  who 
was  associated  with  them  in  the  beginning,  fell  ill  on  the 
voyage,  and  disembarked  at  Porto  Rico,  and  remained 
there  while  the  others  went  on  to  the  continent.  After 
their  arrival,  they  undertook  the  construction  of  the  first 
monastery  in  South  America,  and,  in  1513,  caused  the  first 
mass  to  be  celebrated.  They  sought  to  form  permanent 
relations  of  peace  with  the  Indians,  and  if  they  were  not 
successful  in  this,  the  failure  was  due  to  the  arrival  of  a 
company  of  Spaniards,  who  came  to  engage  in  pearl-fishing. 
The  Indians,  who  usually  took  refuge  in  the  forests  at  the 
sight  of  strangers,  on  this  occasion  determined  to  remain, 
trusting  that  the  friars  would  protect  them.  The  cacique 
and  seventeen  of  his  men  were  induced  by  friendly  pro- 
mises to  visit  the  ship  of  the  pearl-fishers,  and,  when  they 
were  on  board,  the  captain  set  sail  for  Santo  Domingo, 
carrying  off  his  guests  to  be  sold  as  slaves.  The  Indians 


Rojas,  A.,  Esludios  histdricos,  34. 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


33 


who  remained  in  Cumana  resented  this  treachery,  and 
wreaked  vengeance  on  the  unoffending  friars,  who  became 
martyrs  through  the  greed  of  their  countrymen. 

Five  years  later,  in  1518,  a number  of  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans  determined  to  continue  the  work  that  had 
been  checked  by  the  death  of  Garces  and  Cordova.  The 
Franciscans  established  themselves  in  the  building  con- 
structed by  their  predecessors,  and  the  Dominicans  built 
their  monastery  five  leagues  farther  towards  the  west,  in 
the  land  of  the  Chichiribichi.  For  two  years  the  Domini- 
cans laboured  in  peace  among  the  natives  ; then,  in  1520, 
there  was  a new  outbreak  of  hostilities.  The  Indians 
entered  the  monastery,  pretending  that  they  came  to 
attend  mass.  They  killed  the  two  priests  who  were  there, 
and  nine  other  persons  whom  they  found  in  the  monas- 
tery. They  carried  off  the  ornaments,  and  whatever  else 
they  discovered  that  seemed  to  them  valuable.1 


Ill 

The  missionaries  apparently  furnished  no  adequate 
cause  for  this  sudden  uprising  ; they  doubtless  suffered 
for  the  iniquity  of  others.  The  natives  could  not  forget 
that  it  was  the  countrymen,  perhaps  the  kinsmen,  of  the 
missionaries  who  had  carried  off  their  tribesmen,  and  sold 
them  into  slavery.  The  destruction  of  the  monastery  of 
Chichiribichi  was  followed  by  a punitive  expedition  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Gonzalo  de  Ocampo,  whose  in- 
structions were  dated  January  20,  1521.  In  these  instruc- 
tions he  was  ordered  to  capture  the  cacique  Maraguey,  his 
brother,  and  all  the  caciques  and  Indians  of  this  province, 
whom  he  was  able  to  take,  and  to  send  them  to  Santo 
Domingo,  in  order  that  justice  might  be  done.  Ocampo 
was  ordered  to  make  a cruel  war  upon  any  Indians  who 

1 Humbert,  I.es  origines  v6n6zn&liennes,  210. 


VOL.  I. 


C 


34  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

might  offer  resistance,  capture  them,  and  pacify  the 
country.  On  the  voyage  to  the  continent,  Ocampo  halted 
at  Porto  Rico,  and  there  met  Bartolome  de  las  Casas. 
Las  Casas  had  recruited  a company  of  labourers  in  Spain, 
and  had  received  a royal  concession  which  permitted  him 
to  establish  them  on  two  hundred  and  sixty  leagues  of  the 
coast  between  Paria  and  Santa  Marta.  With  two  hundred 
colonists  he  had  left  Seville  for  Tierra  Firme,  and  now 
wished  to  go  to  the  continent,  but  Ocampo  informed  him 
that,  owing  to  the  revolt  of  the  Indians,  the  execution  of 
his  peaceful  mission  was  then  impossible.1 

From  Porto  Rico  Las  Casas  went  to  Santo  Domingo, 
where  he  showed  his  commission  to  the  authorities,  and 
informed  them  that  his  colonists  were  waiting  for  him  in 
Porto  Rico.  He,  moreover,  asked  that  Ocampo  should  be 
recalled  ; but  that  officer,  with  four  caravels,  had  already 
left  Porto  Rico  for  Tierra  Firme.2 

Ocampo  left  three  of  his  vessels  at  Cubagua,  and 
arrived  at  the  coast  of  Maracapana  with  a single  ship. 
He  ordered  that  only  five  sailors  should  appear  on  deck 
after  he  had  reached  the  port,  and  that  the  soldiers  and 
the  rest  of  the  sailors  should  remain  concealed.  The  little 
show  of  force  gave  the  Indians  confidence,  and  they  were 
finally  induced  to  go  on  board  ; then,  at  a signal  given  by 
Ocampo,  all  of  the  soldiers  rushed  on  deck  and  made  the 
Indians  prisoners.  At  the  same  time  a sailor  who  had 

1 Asiento  y capitulacion  de  Bartolome  de  las  Casas,  que  hizo  con 
S.  M.,  sobre  descubrimiento  y poblacion  en  Tierra  Firme,  desde  la 
provincia  de  Paria  hasta  la  de  Santa  Marta,  por  la  costa  del  Mar,  Doc. 
ined.,  vii.  65-89.  This  document  was  issued  on  the  19th  of  May  1520. 
The  territory  assigned  to  Las  Casas  is  described  as  including  the  pro- 
vince of  Paria,  and  extending  along  the  coast  to  the  Province  of  Santa 
Marta,  comprehending  about  260  or  270  leagues.  The  terms  of  the  grant 
are  set  forth  in  thirty-two  sections  which  furnish  an  important  illustra- 
tion of  the  ideas  of  the  Spanish  government  respecting  America.  A 
series  of  supplementary  documents  adding  details  or  an  extension  of 
the  asiento,  are  found  in  Doc.  inid.,  vii.  89-109. 

2 Quintana,  Fray  Bartolomi  de  las  Casas  (Bib.  de  Aut.,  Esp.) 
(Madrid,  1867),  xix.  432,  451  ; Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  77; 
Baralt  y Diaz,  Hist,  de  Venezuela,  cap.  7. 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


35 

been  detailed  for  the  purpose,  fell  upon  and  killed  the 
cacique  Gonzalez,  who  had  remained  in  his  boat.1 

The  destruction  of  the  cacique  and  the  imprisonment 
of  a large  number  of  his  men  left  Ocampo  free  to  carry 
out  his  designs  of  vengeance  without  fear  of  opposition. 
But  in  order  to  terrify  the  Indians  who  might  still  be 
hostile,  he  hung  some  of  his  prisoners  to  the  yards  of  the 
ship,  and  then  went  on  shore  and  continued  his  campaign 
of  cruelty  and  outrage.  Of  the  natives  who  fell  into  his 
hands,  some  were  put  to  the  sword,  others  were  hanged, 
still  others  were  impaled  ; but  a greater  number  were  sent 
to  Santo  Domingo  and  sold  as  slaves.  While  some  of 
his  men  were  employed  with  the  vessels  transporting 
Indians  to  Santo  Domingo,  the  rest  of  the  company 
founded  a town  about  half  a league  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Cumana  River.  This  town  was  called  New 
Toledo. 


IV 

While  Ocampo  was  hunting  Indians  for  slaves  and 
founding  the  town  of  New  Toledo,  Las  Casas  was  trying 
to  persuade  the  authorities  of  Santo  Domingo  to  assist 
him  to  carry  out  his  plans.  Finally,  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty  men  who  had  been  placed  at  his  disposal,  he 
set  sail  for  Porto  Rico,  where  he  expected  to  add  to  his 
company  the  colonists  whom  he  had  left  on  that  island. 
But  in  this  he  was  disappointed  ; for,  without  means  of 
support,  they  had  disbanded,  and  were  scattered  through- 
out the  island.  On  reaching  the  mainland,  Las  Casas 
found  Ocampo  with  his  little  army  at  New  Toledo,  reaping 
the  reward  of  his  merciless  conduct.  His  supply  of  food 
was  precarious  ; the  natives  were  not  subdued,  and  in 
their  sullen  hostility,  were  disposed  to  do  what  they  were 

1 Herrera,  Dec.  II,  lib.  ix.  cap.  16  ; Rojas,  A.,  Estudios  histdricos, 
80  ; Quintana,  Obras,  452  ; Benzoni,  Hist,  del  Mondo  Nuovo  (Vene- 
tia,  1572),  33  ; Humbert,  Les  origines  vinizueliennes , 217. 


36  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


able  to  further  the  progress  of  famine.  The  fierce  Ocampo 
had  run  his  course.  With  no  further  prospects  in  the 
country,  he  gathered  together  his  men  and  the  majority 
of  those  who  had  come  with  Las  Casas,  and  departed  for 
Santo  Domingo. 

Las  Casas,  surrounded  by  a few  men  who  were  per- 
sonally attached  to  him,  had  to  face  a condition  of  affairs 
that  would  have  disheartened  a less  brave  or  a less  hopeful 
leader.  He  turned  to  the  Franciscans  of  the  neighbouring 
monastery,  who  aided  him  in  constructing  a building  near 
the  monastery  in  which  to  store  his  provisions  and  muni- 
tions. He  then  began  to  build  a fort  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Cumana  River,  as  a means  of  defence  against  the 
Indians  and  the  slave-traders  of  Cubagua,  who  not  only 
enticed  away  the  men  at  work  on  the  fort,  but  also  con- 
tinued their  depredations  in  that  region,  making  impos- 
sible the  development  of  a centre  of  civilisation  at  New 
Toledo.  Las  Casas  returned  to  Santo  Domingo  to  solicit 
the  assistance  of  the  audencia,  leaving  Francisco  de  Soto 
in  charge  of  the  little  colony,  with  strict  orders  not  to 
allow  their  two  ships  to  leave  the  harbour,  but  to  hold 
them  ready  as  places  of  refuge  in  case  of  an  attack  by  the 
Indians.  These  orders  were  not  obeyed,  and  both  of  the 
vessels  went  in  search  of  slaves,  pearls,  and  gold.  When 
the  Spaniards  were  thus  deprived  of  means  of  escape,  the 
Indians  rose  against  them,  destroyed  the  building  erected 
by  Las  Casas,  plundered  the  monastery,  murdered  Padre 
Dionisio,  and  mortally  wounded  Francisco  de  Soto.  The 
few  survivors  fled,  and,  putting  off  from  the  shore  in 
boats,  were  enabled,  by  great  good  fortune,  finally  to  reach 
the  ships,  several  leagues  away,  and  were  taken  to  Santo 
Domingo,  where  they  joined  Las  Casas  in  urging  upon  the 
audencia  the  necessity  of  re-establishing  Spanish  authority 
on  the  continent.  A new  expedition  was  finally  organised, 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain  Jacome  Cas- 
tellon.  It  consisted  of  three  hundred  men  and  five  cara- 
vels, and  left  Santo  Domingo  near  the  end  of  1521.  When 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


37 


Castellon  arrived  at  the  coast  of  Cumana,  he  sent  out  men 
in  all  directions  to  spread  terror  among  the  natives,  and 
let  it  be  known  that  the  Spaniards  had  returned  to  avenge 
the  overthrow  of  Las  Casas’  colony  and  the  destruction 
of  the  Franciscan  monastery.  All  the  Indians  who  had 
participated  in  these  acts  were  captured,  and  either  exe- 
cuted or  sold  into  slavery  in  Santo  Domingo.  Peace  was 
at  last  temporarily  restored  to  the  region  of  the  coast,  and 
Castellon  undertook  to  complete  the  fortress  that  Las 
Casas  had  begun.  He  also  founded,  in  1523,  New  Cor- 
dova, near  the  ruins  of  New  Toledo.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  city  of  Cumana.  Castellon  founded  also  the 
town  of  Asuncion,  on  the  island  of  Margarita.1 


V 

After  the  foundation  of  New  Cordova,  the  special 
attention  of  explorers  was  called  away  from  that  part  of 
the  northern  coast,  and  directed  to  the  region  about  the 
lower  Orinoco  and  the  Gulf  of  Paria.  This  region  became 
the  goal  of  numerous  expeditions  that  sacrificed  wealth 
and  lives  with  little  or  no  permanent  results.  In  1530, 
Pedro  de  Acosta,  with  three  hundred  men,  made  a settle- 
ment on  the  delta  of  the  Orinoco,  but  it  was  destroyed  by 
the  Carib  Indians. 

Antonio  Sedeno,  an  officer  of  the  royal  treasury  in 
Porto  Rico,  desiring  to  extend  his  name  and  fame,  and 
to  spread  the  Catholic  faith  by  the  reduction  of  the  Indians, 
petitioned  the  court  for  a licence  to  occupy  the  island  of 
Trinidad.  In  response  to  his  petition,  he  was  granted  the 
privilege  desired,  together  with  the  title  of  governor  of 
lands  which  he  might  conquer,  and  also  that  of  adelan- 

1 Beralt  y Diaz,  Hist,  de  Venezuela  (Curazao,  1887),  i.  cap.  7; 
Quintana,  Obras,  452-4  ; Rojas,  A.,  Estudios  historicos,  86,  87  ; 
Humbert,  Les  origines  venezuiliennes,  218-20  ; Fabie,  Vida  y escritos 
de  Fray  Bartolomd  de  las  Casas,  Obispo  de  Chiapa  (Madrid,  1879),  i.  cap.  vi. 
Doc.  inid.,  vii.  109-16  ; xli.  289-92. 


38  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

tado,  but  under  the  condition  of  fulfilling  certain  specified 
obligations,  such  as  the  duty  to  found  cities,  erect  churches 
and  hospitals,  and  the  other  obligations  usually  imposed 
by  the  Spanish  king  on  discoverers.  But,  on  account  of 
failure  to  meet  these  requirements,  he  never  held  the  title 
of  adelantado.  In  1530,  he  left  Porto  Rico  with  seventy 
men  in  two  caravels,  and  landed  on  the  island  of  Trinidad 
the  same  year,  having  with  him  stores  of  provisions  and 
a certain  number  of  domestic  animals.  The  natives  were 
at  first  friendly,  and  appeared  at  the  place  of  landing  in 
great  numbers  to  receive  gifts  of  combs,  knives,  bells, 
glass  beads,  and  other  articles  of  European  manufacture. 
Sedeno,  moreover,  established  amicable  relations  with  the 
cacique,  Chacomar,  which  were  maintained  after  the 
members  of  the  other  tribes  had  turned  against  him.  The 
encroachments  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  search  for  food, 
and  the  opinion  spread  among  the  Indians  that  their 
guests  intended  to  establish  themselves  permanently  in 
the  island,  produced,  in  the  course  of  time,  an  unfriendly 
attitude,  and  even  active  hostilities.  As  a result  of  the 
assaults  of  the  Indians,  the  Spaniards  found  themselves 
under  the  necessity  of  obtaining  recruits.  Sedeno,  how- 
ever, saw  that  to  leave  his  men  on  the  island  during  his 
proposed  visit  in  Porto  Rico  to  enlist  the  desired  addi- 
tional troops  would  be  to  expose  them  to  complete  de- 
struction. After  various  conferences  and  anxious  deli- 
berations of  the  leaders,  it  was  finally  decided  to  remove 
the  company  to  the  mainland,  and  there  erect  a strong- 
hold for  their  protection.  In  their  fort  in  Paria  the  men 
were  to  wait  for  the  return  of  Sedeno.  The  construc- 
tion and  occupancy  of  the  fort  aroused  the  Indians  to 
suspect  the  Spaniards,  and  moved  them  to  prepare  for 
war.  In  the  meantime,  the  Spaniards,  with  evil  fore- 
bodings, saw  their  supplies  gradually  diminish,  and  the 
prospect  of  replenishing  them  from  the  country  became 
more  and  more  remote.  In  Porto  Rico  the  outlook  of 
Sedeno  was  not  flattering.  The  court  of  Spain  considered 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


39 


that  his  expedition,  after  a year’s  experience,  had  failed, 
and  issued  orders  that  the  Indians  he  had  taken  to  Porto 
Rico  should  be  returned  to  their  country.1 


VI 

Shortly  after  the  foundation  of  Cumana,  the  King  of 
Spain  granted  New  Andalucia  to  Diego  de  Ordaz,  and  ap- 
pointed him  governor,  adelantado,  and  captain-general. 
From  the  revenues  granted  with  the  titles  and  territory, 
Ordaz  was  required,  in  accordance  with  a usual  formula, 
to  maintain  a certain  number  of  dependents,  an  alcalde- 
mayor,  a physician,  a surgeon,  an  apothecary,  thirty 
peons,  and  ten  squires.  He  might  introduce  fifty  negro 
slaves,  and  receive  twenty-five  horses  and  twenty-five 
mares  from  the  king’s  stock  in  Jamaica. 

Taking  with  him  the  force  he  had  recruited  at  Seville, 
he  sailed  from  the  port  of  San  Lucar  in  the  beginning  of 

1 Simon,  Pedro,  Noticias  liistoriales  de  las  conquistas  de  Tierra 
Firme  en  las  Indias  occidentales  (Bogota,  1882-92),  i.  58-64  ; Caulin, 
Antonio,  Historia  coro-graphica  natural  y evangelica  de  la  Nueva  Anda- 
lucia (1779),  129-34;  Michelena  y Rojas,  Exploracion  official  desde  el 
norte  de  la  America  del  sur  (Brusselas,  1867),  lib.  i.  cap.  6.  Pedro 
Simon  was  born  in  Parrilla,  in  the  bishopric  of  Cuenca,  in  Spain.  He 
studied  the  humanities  in  the  monastery  of  San  Francisco,  in  Carta- 
gena, and  arrived  in  Bogota  in  1604,  with  the  design  of  devoting 
himself  to  instruction  in  theology  and  letters.  In  1623,  he  was  elected 
Provincial,  and  at  the  same  time  began  his  voluminous  writings, 
making  use  of  the  materials  he  had  been  collecting  for  a number  of 
years.  His  arrival  in  Bogota  was  only  about  seventy-five  years  after 
the  earliest  of  the  events  which  he  describes,  and  he  was  a participant 
in  some  of  the  latest.  He  visited  various  parts  of  New  Granada  and 
Venezuela,  Coro,  Antioquia,  Cartagena,  and  Santa  Marta,  and  every- 
where he  received  oral  accounts  and  written  statements,  which,  in 
addition  to  the  archives  of  his  monastery,  constituted  the  basis  of  his 
extensive  narrative.  This  narrative  has  the  following  title  : Noticias 
historiales  de  las  conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme  en  las  Indias  occidentales. 
The  first  part  was  published  in  Cuenca  in  1627.  This  constitutes  the 
first  volume  of  the  complete  edition,  which  was  issued  in  Bogota  during 
the  years  1882  to  1892.  Vergara,  Historia  de  la  Literatura  en  Nueva 
Granada,  75  ; Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  379-82  ; see  also  Prologo  al 
Lector,  in  the  first  volume  of  Simon’s  work. 


40  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


1531.  Some  weeks  later  he  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Paria, 
with  the  design  of  entering  at  once  upon  the  exploration 
of  the  Orinoco.  The  meeting  between  the  Indians  and 
the  Spaniards  indicated  that  both  parties  wished  to  main- 
tain friendly  relations  with  one  another.  The  Indians 
informed  the  governor  that  there  wras  another  company  of 
Spaniards  established  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction. 
On  investigation  these  proved  to  be  the  twenty-five  soldiers 
who  had  been  left  in  their  fort  by  Sedeno,  the  explorer  of 
Trinidad.  Ordaz  immediately  undertook  the  construc- 
tion of  vessels  for  the  river  voyage  ; and,  when  these 
wrere  completed,  he  set  out  to  explore  the  course  of  the 
Orinoco.  In  this  expedition  he  suffered  the  embarrass- 
ment of  too  large  a force,  an  embarrassment  which  appar- 
ently prevented  the  successful  execution  of  many  of  the 
plans  of  early  exploring  expeditions.  In  this  case  the 
vessels  were  so  large  that  when  the  wand  failed  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  manage  them  against  the  current.  Moreover,  the 
work  of  rowing  them  was  too  severe  for  the  men,  particu- 
larly as  they  soon  became  enfeebled  by  fever  and  other 
diseases  induced  by  the  hot,  damp  atmosphere  of  the 
lower  stretches  of  the  river.  In  the  first  w7eeks  three  hun- 
dred men  died,  and  many  of  the  others  became  too  wreak 
to  offer  any  assistance  in  the  undertaking.  But  the  sur- 
vivors were  so  numerous  that  it  was  impossible  to  find 
either  in  the  stores  of  the  vessels  or  among  the  Indians 
sufficient  food  for  them  ; and  when  the  Indians  assumed 
a hostile  attitude,  or  burned  their  villages  and  fled,  the 
members  of  the  expedition  appeared  to  be  in  the  presence 
of  starvation. 

In  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  the  sickness  of 
the  soldiers,  and  the  scarcity  of  food,  Ordaz  advanced  as 
far  as  the  mouth  of  the  river  Meta.  Here  the  strength  of 
the  current  made  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  proceed 
farther  ; and,  remembering  the  disabled  men  who  had 
been  left  at  Uriapari,  he  determined  to  go  down  the  river, 
take  them  on  board,  and  return  to  the  fort  at  Paria.  But 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


4i 


Ordaz’s  troubles  did  not  end  with  the  voyage.  On  the 
contrary,  disputes  arose  with  Sedeno,  and  Ordaz  was 
arrested  by  Sedeno’s  orders  and  conducted  to  Santo 
Domingo.  He  was  there  brought  before  the  audiencia, 
and  that  court  set  him  at  liberty.  In  1532,  he  was  on  the 
island  of  Cubagua,  and  died  there  of  poison  while  pre- 
paring to  return  to  Spain.1 

Geronimo  Ortal  was  appointed  to  succeed  Ordaz  as 
governor  of  New  Andalucia.  In  the  meantime,  notices 
of  the  agreeable  climate,  the  abundant  products,  and  the 
large  population  of  the  region  had  been  carried  to  Spain  ; 
and  many  persons,  who  had  been  made  to  think  of  the 
country  as  a terrestrial  paradise,  sold  their  property,  took 
with  them  their  wives  and  children,  and  exchanged  their 
native  country  for  a land  that  for  them  proved  to  be  a land 
of  misfortune  and  misery. 

Arriving  at  the  fort  of  Paria  in  1535,  Ortal  found  Alonso 
de  Herrera  and  his  twenty-five  soldiers  full  of  fear  and 
anxiety,  since  they  were  reduced  to  such  a state  by  their 
want  of  food  that  they  were  unable  to  withstand  the 
Indians,  who  threatened  to  overwhelm  them.  Governor 
Ortal  appointed  Herrera  to  be  his  lieutenant-general. 
Ortal’s  plan  laid  stress  on  exploration  and  the  slave-trade. 
In  carrying  out  the  first  part  of  the  plan,  Herrera  under- 
took a journey  into  the  interior.  He  constructed  a num- 
ber of  small  vessels,  and  ascended  the  Orinoco  as  far  as 
the  mouth  of  the  Meta.  He  entered  this  stream,  but  he 
had  only  gone  a short  distance  when  he  found  further  ad- 
vance difficult  on  account  of  the  shallowness  of  the  water, 
the  failure  of  supplies,  and  the  hostility  of  the  natives. 
In  a skirmish  with  the  Indians  here  Herrera  was  killed, 
and,  after  this  event,  the  command  of  the  expedition 
passed  to  Alvaro  Ordaz,  a nephew  of  Governor  Ordaz. 
The  new  commander  consulted  with  his  officers  and  men, 
and  determined  to  turn  back  and  return  to  the  coast. 

1 Carta  de  Xaconie  de  Castellon  a Su  Magcslad,  May  26,  1532,  Doc. 
intd.,  xli.  338-41. 


42  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

This  second  attempt  to  explore  the  Orinoco  was  quite  as 
fruitless  as  the  first.  If  it  cost  fewer  lives,  this  more 
favourable  result  was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  fewer 
persons  were  involved.  For  Governor  Ortal,  who  had 
remained  on  the  coast  during  Herrera’s  voyage  up  the 
river,  there  was  little  or  nothing  in  the  results  of  the  slave- 
trade,  or  of  any  other  of  his  enterprises,  to  compensate 
for  the  failure  of  the  expedition  to  acquire  the  untold 
riches  that  were  imagined  to  exist  in  the  region  of  the  Meta. 
The  soldiers  who  had  returned  after  a year  and  a half  on 
the  banks  of  the  Orinoco,  where  much  of  the  time  they  had 
been  face  to  face  with  famine,  went  about  like  skeletons, 
and  were  deaf  to  the  call  of  the  governor,  who  wished  to 
gather  a force  for  a new  undertaking. 

The  fear  of  poisoned  arrows,  and  the  hard  conditions 
to  which  the  soldiers  had  been  subjected,  during  the  ex- 
peditions to  the  river  Meta,  curbed  the  enthusiasm  for 
exploits  that  threatened  to  be  repetitions  of  the  experi- 
ences of  earlier  journeys  ; still  there  were  leaders,  both 
in  the  province  and  elsewhere,  who  were  anxious  to  lay 
hold  on  the  riches  of  El  Dorado.  Sedeno  not  only  washed 
to  return  to  Trinidad,  but  also  hoped  to  be  permitted  to 
take  part  in  the  exploration  of  the  mainland.  This  ambi- 
tion brought  him  into  conflict  with  Governor  Ortal,  whose 
territory  he  invaded  ; but  the  contest  was  not  long,  for 
Sedeno  died  on  an  expedition  into  the  interior,  miserably 
poisoned  by  one  of  his  slaves.  His  followers  then  elected 
a new  captain,  but  when  they  saw  no  prospects  of  realis- 
ing their  expectations,  they  mutinied,  sent  their  captain 
to  Santo  Domingo  as  a prisoner,  and  dispersed. 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


43 


VII 

For  two  or  three  decades  after  this  event,  or  until  1568, 
the  province  of  New  Andalucia  was  neglected,  and  the  few 
inhabitants  were  barely  able  to  maintain  themselves.  On 
May  15  of  that  year,  the  King  of  Spain  bestowed  the  title 
and  power  of  governor  on  Diego  Fernandez  de  Serpa. 
Serpa  left  Spain  with  several  hundred  soldiers  and  colo- 
nists, and  reached  New  Andalucia  in  1569.  He  landed  on 
the  coast  near  Cumana,  where  he  found  the  colonists  in- 
troduced by  Castellon  in  a miserable  state,  and  willing  to 
abandon  their  settlement.  Serpa  had  brought  with  him 
a hundred  married  men  with  their  families.  Twenty- 
three  of  these  he  left  here,  and  they  joined  the  survivors 
of  Castellon’s  colony,  and  organized  the  municipality  of 
Cumana,  or  reformed  the  town  of  New  Cordova  and  gave 
it  a new  name.  The  members  of  the  ayuntamiento  were 
appointed  on  the  24th  of  November  1569.  Having  com- 
pleted these  arrangements,  Serpa  set  out  on  a campaign 
against  the  warlike  tribe  of  the  Cumanagotos,  who  occu- 
pied the  coast  region  between  Cumana  and  Piritu.  Many 
of  his  soldiers  had  had  military  experience  in  European 
wars,  and  with  them  he  intended,  as  soon  as  the  enemy 
was  subdued,  to  march  southward  to  the  Orinoco.  In 
order  to  be  free  from  the  embarrassment  of  having  a large 
number  of  non-combatants  in  his  train,  he  formed  a town 
under  the  name  of  Santiago  de  los  Caballeros.  Here  he 
left  the  women  and  children,  with  a sufficient  number  of 
armed  men  to  protect  them,  and  proceeded  southward 
about  fifty  miles,  where  the  Cumanagotos,  allied  with 
the  Chacopatas,  enraged  by  the  evident  purpose  of  the 
Spaniards  to  establish  themselves  in  the  country,  prepared 
to  attack  the  invaders.  In  this  encounter  Serpa  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  of  his  men  were  killed,  although 
the  battle  lasted  only  about  an  hour.  The  rest  of  the 


44  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Spanish  force,  a large  number  of  whom  were  severely 
wounded,  escaped  into  the  hills,  and,  in  great  confusion, 
found  their  way  back  to  the  town  of  Santiago  de  los 
Caballeros.  Within  a few  days  after  reaching  the  coast,  the 
majority  of  the  wounded  died.  The  Indians  pursued  the 
fugitives,  and  besieged  the  town  where  they  had  taken 
refuge.  During  fourteen  days  the  Spaniards  resisted  the 
attacks  of  the  natives,  and  at  the  end  of  this  period  Captain 
Francisco  de  Carceres  appeared  with  soldiers,  munitions, 
and  a supply  of  food.  But  even  with  the  assistance  of 
the  reinforcements  it  was  not  thought  advisable  to  attempt 
to  maintain  the  settlement,  on  account  of  the  number  of 
hostile  natives  in  that  region.  The  survivors  of  the  little 
army  and  the  settlers  of  Santiago  de  los  Cabelleros  were, 
therefore,  embarked  for  Cumana  and  the  island  of  Mar- 
garita, and  many  of  them  later  went  to  Bogota.1 

Expeditions  to  New  Andalucia  succeeded  one  another 
at  irregular  intervals.  Many  repeated  the  unfortunate 
experience  of  those  who  had  preceded  them.  Captain 
Juan  Ponce  obtained  a grant  of  the  island  of  Trinidad, 
and,  towards  the  end  of  1571,  he  arrived  at  the  island  with 
his  brilliant  train  of  soldiers,  immigrants,  and  priests.  A 
few  days  after  this  event,  his  company  was  smitten  by  a 
scourge  of  the  plague,  which  left  alive  only  a feeble  and 
terror-stricken  minority  of  those  who  had  landed.  The 
few  who  escaped  the  ravages  of  the  pestilence  abandoned 
the  island,  leaving  it  depopulated,  without  prospects  of 
a better  state.  In  spite  of  the  misfortunes  which  attended 
the  conquest  of  this  part  of  Tierra  Firme,  there  was  a slow 
but  gradual  increase  of  the  population  on  the  mainland.2 

1 Baralt  y Diaz,  Hist,  de  Venezuela,  i.  239-41  ; Humbert,  Les 
origincs  vdndzuiliennes,  221-4 ; Doc.  indd.,  iv.  467 ; Caulin,  Hist, 
de  Nueva  Andalucia,  lib.  ii.  cap.  9;  Rojas,  A.,  Estudios  histdricos, 
224  ; Simon,  Las  conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  352. 

2 Caulin,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Andalucia  (1779),  109-67;  Simon,  Las 
conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  64-73  ; Gumilla,  El  Orinoco  ilustrado 
(Madrid,  1745),  i.  29. 

The  first  edition  of  Gumilla’s  El  Orinoco  illustrado  appeared  in  the 
same  year  as  Cassani’s  Historia,  namely,  in  1741.  It  is  based  on  the 


NEW  ANDALUCIA 


45 


work  of  Rivero.  It  was  printed  in  Madrid,  and  a second  edition  was 
issued  in  1745.  The  full  title  is:  El  Orinoco  illustrado,  y defendido, 
historia  natural,  civil,  y geographica  dc  este  gran  rio,  y de  sus  caudalosas 
vertientes  : govierno,  usos,  y costumbres  de  los  Indios,  sus  habitadores, 
con  nuevas,  y utiles  noticias  de  animates,  arboles,  frutos,  aceytes,  resinas, 
yervas,  y raices  tnedicinales  ; y sobre  todo,  se  hallaran  convetsiones  muy 
singulares  d N . Santa  F&,  y casos  de  mucha  edificacion.  Under  his  name 
on  the  title-page,  Gumilla  describes  himself  as  a member  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  missionary,  superior  of  the  missions  of  the  Orinoco,  Meta, 
and  Casanare,  calificador  and  consultor  of  the  Holy  Tribunal  of  the 
Inquisition  of  Cartagena  of  the  Indies,  synodal  examiner  of  the  bish- 
opric of  Cartagena,  sometime  provincial  of  that  province  of  New 
Granada,  and  actual  procurador  of  the  missions  and  the  province. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  SANTA  MARTA  AND 
CARTAGENA 

I.  The  expedition  of  Bastidas.  II.  Vadillo  as  governor.  III. 
Lerma’s  administration  and  his  interim  successor.  IV.  Heredia, 
the  founder  of  Cartagena.  V.  The  pillaging  expedition  to  the 
graves  of  Zenu  in  1534. 


I 

During  the  period  of  the  early  efforts  to  explore  and 
colonise  New  Andalucia,  more  successful  attempts  were 
made  to  establish  settlements  on  the  northern  coast  of 
South  America,  farther  towards  the  west.  In  1525, 
Rodrigo  de  Bastidas  left  Santo  Domingo  for  the  continent 
with  four  ships,1  and  on  the  29th  of  July  of  this  year 
founded  the  town  of  Santa  Marta.  He  brought  to  his 
undertaking  a determination  to  gain  the  good-will  of 
the  natives  by  humane  and  considerate  treatment.  He 
formed  treaties  of  peace  with  the  tribes  who  occupied  the 
territory  about  the  place  which  he  had  selected  for  his 
settlement.  But  this  policy  was  not  approved  by  his  asso- 
ciates. He  determined,  moreover,  not  to  distribute  among 
his  men  the  gold  which  fell  into  his  hands,  until  the  ex- 
penses of  his  military  equipment  had  been  met.  On  this 
point  there  was  also  a disagreement,  as  well  as  with  respect 
to  the  plan  to  take  nothing  from  the  Indians  by  force. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  expedition,  irritated  by  the 
designs  of  Bastidas,  and  led  by  his  lieutenant,  Juan  de 

1 Capitulacion  que  se  tomo  con  Rodrigo  de  Bastida  para  la  pob- 
lacion  de  la  provincia  y puerta  de  Santa  Marta,  Doc.  inid.,  xxii.  98- 
106. 

46 


SANTA  MARTA  AND  CARTAGENA  47 

Villafuerte,  formed  a conspiracy  to  murder  him.  They 
broke  into  his  quarters,  stabbed  him,  and  left  him  for  dead. 
Captain  Rodrigo  Palomino  answered  his  call  for  assistance, 
and  drove  off  the  conspirators  when  they  returned  to  finish 
their  work.  Defeated  in  their  second  murderous  assault, 
they  fled  to  the  forest  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  the  in- 
dignant settlers.  In  the  forest  they  were  pursued  by  the 
Indians,  and  were  obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  the  town. 
They  were  here  arrested,  and  sent  to  Santo  Domingo  for 
trial,  where  they  were  condemned  and  executed.  Some 
of  the  conspirators,  who  did  not  dare  to  return  to  the  town, 
were  lost  in  attempting  to  cross  from  Tierra  Firme  to 
Santo  Domingo  in  a boat.  Bastidas  appointed  Palomino 
his  lieutenant-general,  and  empowered  him  to  manage  the 
affairs  of  the  colony  ; and  in  this  manner  he  recognised 
the  services  of  Palomino,  who  had  defended  him.  Bastidas 
then  went  to  Santo  Domingo  to  be  treated  for  his  wounds, 
and  died  a little  later  in  Cuba.1 

1 Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada  (Bogota,  1889),  i.  5.  Castellanos 
states  the  reason  of  Bastidas’  destruction  in  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  iv.  260. 

" Segun  los  que  mas  saben  de  este  cuento, 

Fue  principio  y origin  de  sus  males 
No  consentir  hacer  maltratamiento 
Ni  robos  en  aquellos  naturales.” 

Lorente,  Conquista  del  Peru,  7,  describes  Bastidas  as  " uno  de  los 
pocos  Europeos  que  en  aquella  epoca  de  crueles  injusticias  buscaban  a 
los  indios,  no  para  explotarlos  desapiadadamente,  sino  para  atraerlos 
a la  civilizacion  con  los  goces  apacibles  del  comercio.”  Pedro  Simon, 
Las  Conquistas,  ii.  3,  refers  to  Bastidas  as  a “ vecino  de  Triana  en  Sevilla, 
hombre  de  buena  fama,  sangre,  calidad  y estima.”  Piedrahita,  lib.  iii. 
cap.  1.  See  “ Capitulation  que  se  tomo  con  Rodrigo  de  Bastidas  para 
la  poblacion  de  la  provincia  y puerto  de  Santa  Marta,”  Madrid, 
November  6,  1524. 

The  metrical  chronicle  of  Juan  de  Castellanos,  in  its  relation  to  the 
early  history  of  New  Granada,  calls  to  mind  Ercilla’s  Araucana  in  its 
relation  to  the  early  events  of  Chilean  history.  Castellanos  was  born 
in  the  little  town  of  Alanis,  in  the  province  of  Seville,  in  the  first  part 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  left  Spain  as  a soldier,  began  his  military 
career  in  Porto  Rico,  and  was  later  at  Paria  and  in  the  islands 
of  Trinidad  and  Cubagua.  He  was  transferred  to  the  island  of 
Margarita  after  the  earthquake  which  caused  all  of  the  colonists  of 
Cubagua  to  remove  to  Margarita.  In  1550  he  was  living  at  Cape 


48  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


II 

When  the  death  of  Bastidas  became  known  to  the  audi- 
encia  of  Santo  Domingo,  that  body  appointed  Pedro 
Vadillo  to  be  the  governor  of  Santa  Marta.  Palomino, 
however,  refused  to  yield  the  post  of  authority  to  Vadillo, 
and  an  armed  conflict  appeared  to  be  inevitable.  Vadillo 
had  under  his  command  a body  of  only  about  two  hundred 
men,  not  enough  to  warrant  him  in  undertaking  to  sup- 
press Palomino  by  force.  Fortunately  the  two  parties 
agreed  to  unite  and  recognise  both  leaders  as  equal  in 
authority  until  the  return  of  the  messengers  from  Spain 
with  the  decision  of  the  court.  Palomino,  continuing  his 
campaigns  against  the  Indians,  was  drowned  by  his  horse 
losing  his  footing  in  attempting  to  ford  a river.  The  dis- 
appearance of  Palomino  left  Vadillo  without  embarrass- 
ment in  exercising  his  rapacious  designs  with  respect  to 
the  natives.  He  penetrated  the  interior  of  the  country, 
crossed  the  sierra  Tairona,  and,  by  a military  occupation 
of  many  months,  converted  flourishing  and  happy  valleys 

de  la  Vela,  and  a little  later  he  is  known  to  have  been  at  Santa  Marta, 
where  he  remained  until  1552.  He  was  in  Cartagena  when  that 
town  was  taken  by  pirates  in  1559.  While  here  he  became  a priest, 
and  was  appointed  to  be  the  treasurer  of  the  cathedral,  but  he  refused 
to  accept  this  office,  and  removed  from  the  diocese.  He  was  finally 
established  at  Tunja  as  the  parish  priest,  and  here  he  wrote  his  Elegias 
de  varones  ilustres  de  las  Indias.  At  Tunja  he  spent  his  old  age  in 
peace,  but  the  time  of  his  death  is  not  known.  It  is  known,  however, 
that  he  was  living  in  1588,  for  in  his  writings  he  refers  to  events  which 
occurred  in  that  year.  The  first  part  of  the  Elegias  was  printed  in  1589; 
the  second  part  was  printed  near  the  end  of  the  century  ; and  the 
three  parts  were  issued  together  in  the  Biblioteca  de  Autores  Espanoles, 
in  the  fourth  volume. 

Reference  may  be  made  to  three  accounts  of  Castellanos.  The 
first  is  contained  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Historia  del  Nuevo  Rcino 
de  Granada,  by  Antonio  Paz  y Mdlia  (Madrid,  1886),  vol.  i.  9-47.  The 
second  is  a thin  volume  of  one  hundred  and  six  pages,  by  Marcos 
Jimenez  dc  la  Espada  (Madrid,  1889),  called  Juan  de  Castellanos  y su 
historia  del  Nuevo  Eeino  de  Granada.  The  third  is  Schumacher’s 
Lebensbild,  found  in  Hamburgische  Festschrift  zur  Erinnerung  an  die 
Entdechung  Amcrikas  (Hamburg,  1892),  ii.  145-296. 


SANTA  MARTA  AND  CARTAGENA  49 

into  scenes  of  desolation  and  misery.  From  this  cam- 
paign, which  lasted  a year,  Vadillo  returned  to  Santa 
Marta  with  a large  quantity  of  gold  and  jewels,  and  as 
many  slaves  as  the  soldiers  could  take  charge  of,  who,  like 
thousands  that  had  preceded  them,  were  destined  to  perish 
miserably  under  the  tasks  imposed  upon  them  in  the 
islands.  Reports  of  Vadillo’s  avarice  and  cruelty  having 
reached  the  court,  he  was  sent  to  Spain  for  trial,  but  he 
was  lost  off  the  coast  of  the  Peninsula.  Thus,  like  both 
of  his  predecessors,  the  third  governor  of  Santa  Marta  met 
a tragic  fate.1 


Ill 

Garcia  Lerma  succeeded  Vadillo  as  governor  of  Santa 
Marta,  and  the  beginning  of  his  administration  was  con- 
temporaneous with  the  establishment  of  the  rule  of  the 
Welsers  in  Venezuela.  In  this  period  the  authorities  in 
Spain  made  another  attempt  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  Indians.  The  new  governor  was  required  not  to 
sanction  the  enslavement  of  the  natives,  but  to  exercise 
all  possible  diligence  in  discovering,  in  the  islands  and  else- 
where, the  Indians  who  had  been  drawn  from  his  terri- 
tory and  reduced  to  slavery.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
made  his  duty  to  restore  such  persons  to  the  districts  from 
which  they  had  been  taken  ; and  the  audiencia  of  Santo 
Domingo  was  ordered  to  assist  in  this  work  of  justice  and 
humanity.  It  was  presumed  that  the  governor  would  be 
assisted  in  attempts  to  execute  these  orders  by  the  twenty 
ecclesiastics  who  had  accompanied  him  to  America,  and 
particularly  by  the  famous  preacher,  Tomas  Ortiz,  who 
bore  the  title  of  Protector  of  the  Indians.  But  the  plan 
involved  in  these  orders,  like  other  pious  designs  of  the 
Spanish  government,  was  frustrated,  because  it  was  in 
opposition  to  the  interests  of  the  colonists. 

1 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada , 90-91  ; Simon,  Las  conqnistas  de  Tierra 
Firme,  ii.  12.  See  Carta  a Su  Magestad  de  Rodrigo  de  Granada , July  15, 
1529,  Doc.  in(d.,  41,  284. 

VOL.  I. 


D 


50  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Governor  Lerma  brought  several  kinds  of  seed  from 
Spain  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil,  yet  his  attention  was  directed  mainly  to  the  ex- 
ploration of  the  interior.  Sometimes  the  members  of  the 
companies  employed  in  this  enterprise  were  received  by 
the  Indians  in  a friendly  manner  ; but  often  they  encoun- 
tered open  hostility,  or  were  decoyed  into  positions  where 
the  natives  might  destroy  them  without  danger  to  them- 
selves. The  Chimilas  sometimes  hung  articles  of  gold  at 
their  doors,  and  then  concealed  themselves  hard  by,  where 
from  their  ambush  they  might  despatch  the  Spaniard  with 
their  poisoned  arrows  when  he  came  to  take  away  the  gold. 
A number  of  attempts  were  made  to  explore  the  Magdalena 
River  during  Lerma’s  administration.  An  expedition 
under  the  leadership  of  Jeronimo  Melo,  a Portuguese,  was 
fruitless,  owing  to  the  death  of  Melo  in  an  early  period  of 
the  undertaking.  Under  the  direction  of  the  priest, 
Viana,  the  river  was  explored  to  its  junction  with  the 
Cauca.  Viana  and  his  men  then  followed  this  latter 
stream  to  its  confluence  with  the  San  Jorje.  Throughout 
their  long  and  wearisome  journey  they  found  no  inhabi- 
tants who  seemed  to  have  the  gold  they  sought  ; and, 
finally,  worn  out,  half-starved,  and  discouraged,  they  con- 
structed rafts  and  floated  down  the  river,  and  reached 
Santa  Marta  in  the  beginning  of  1532. 1 

For  the  support  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  colony 
Governor  Lerma  granted  an  encomienda,  which  was  to 
be  held  by  Ortiz  in  their  behalf.  A little  later  Ortiz 
appears  as  the  first  bishop  of  Santa  Marta.  He  under- 
took to  make  more  humane  the  treatment  of  the  Indians 
by  the  Spaniards,  but  he  was  able  to  accomplish  little  or 
nothing  in  opposition  to  the  greed  of  the  settlers  and  the 
practices  already  confirmed  by  custom.  He,  therefore, 

1 Bencdelti,  Ilistoria  de  Colombia  (Lima,  1887),  1 19-21;  Groot, 
Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  6,  7 ; Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  97-100  ; 
Carta  e relacion  de  Garcia  de  Lerma,  January  16,  1630,  Doc.  intd.,  41, 
293-3M- 


SANTA  MARTA  AND  CARTAGENA  51 

went  to  Spain  to  give  the  king  an  account  of  the  condition 
of  affairs  in  the  colony,  but  died  almost  immediately  on 
reaching  the  Peninsula.1 

The  alcaldes  and  regidores  of  Santa  Marta  issued  a 
statement  concerning  the  administration  of  Governor 
Lerma,  in  which  they  called  attention  to  the  hostility  he 
had  aroused  among  the  Indians,  and  to  the  avarice  and 
injustice  he  had  displayed.  They  affirmed  that  when  he 
arrived,  a Spaniard  might  safely  go  alone  forty  leagues 
into  the  interior,  and  that  the  Indians  would  give  him 
whatever  he  needed  without  doing  him  any  harm  ; but, 
at  the  time  of  their  writing,  a company  of  fifteen  mounted 
soldiers  would  not  dare  to  go  two  and  a half  leagues  from 
the  port.  In  the  beginning  the  Indians  were  so  friendly 
that  when  the  chiefs  visited  the  governor  they  brought 
gold  and  jewels,  and  these  things  he  received  without 
sharing  them  with  any  other  persons  ; whereas,  in  justice, 
having  paid  the  part  due  the  king,  he  should  have  given 
some  part  of  them  to  the  people.  And  when  a soldier 
came  to  him  to  ask  permission  to  go  and  excavate  a grave 
which  he  had  seen,  he  would  grant  this  request  only  on 
condition  that  the  soldier  would  give  him  a certain  part 
of  the  spoil.  They  affirmed,  moreover,  that  the  governor, 
who  had  brought  two  miners,  or  stone-cutters,  with  him 
from  Spain,  by  employing  these  and  other  persons  in  his 
service,  he  caused  a number  of  graves  to  be  plundered 
secretly  before  they  were  known  to  anyone  else.  On  the 
truth  of  these  and  various  other  charges  of  greed,  injustice, 
and  favouritism,  the  alcaldes  and  regidores  were  willing 
to  stake  their  lives  and  property.2 

Before  the  return  of  Viana’s  expedition,  the  audiencia 
of  Santo  Domingo  had  appointed  one  of  its  members,  the 

1 Groot,  Historic/,  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  1 1 ; Acosta,  Naeva  Granada, 
91. 

2 ...  " decimos  que  nos  obligamos,  nuestras  cabezas  y hacien- 
das, a hacer  verdad  y probar  con  toda  esta  cibdad  lo  que  en  este 
morial  se  contiene,  que  va  firmado  de  nuestros  nombres.”  Doc.  ined., 
iii.  499. 


52  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

oidor  Infante,  to  occupy  the  post  made  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Governor  Lerma.  The  only  noteworthy  record 
of  the  three  years  of  this  interim  administration  is  that  of 
violence  and  plundering,  of  which  the  natives  were  the 
victims.  The  governor  was  not  disposed  to  abate  these 
evils,  since  he  received  a part  of  the  price  of  the  Indians 
sold,  and  a part  of  the  proceeds  of  tribute  and  pillage.1 


IV 

More  important  than  the  foundation  of  Santa  Marta 
was  that  of  Cartagena,  made  by  Pedro  de  Heredia. 
Heredia  had  already  played  a part  in  Santa  Marta  before 
the  arrival  of  Governor  Lerma.  He  had  been  the  lieu- 
tenant of  Vadillo,  and  had  had  much  experience  in  dealing 
with  the  natives.  He  had  acquired  more  knowledge  of 
their  character  than  the  majority  of  his  associates.  He 
was  brave,  resolute,  and  endowed  with  the  ability  to  make 
his  orders  obeyed  by  the  adventurers  who  found  in  the 
exploration  of  America  scope  for  their  restless  spirits.  He 
had  inherited  property  in  Santo  Domingo,  and  this  gave 
him  a position  sufficiently  prominent  to  cause  Vadillo  to 
make  him  his  lieutenant.  While  in  the  service  of  Vadillo, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  providing  for  himself  a career  of 
greater  independence.  Therefore,  shortly  after  the  acces- 
sion of  Garcia  de  Lerma  to  the  governorship  of  Santa 
Marta,  Heredia  returned  to  Spain,  and  obtained  a grant 
covering  the  then  unoccupied  coast  region  extending  from 


1 Piedrahita,  Historia  general  del  Nuevo  Reino  de  Granada,  lib.  iii. 
cap.  3.  On  the  19th  of  April  1531,  Governor  Lerma  wrote  to  the 
king,  informing  him  “ que  a los  veinte  e seis  de  dicho  mes  de  Hebeero 
pasado,  permitid  Dios  Nuestro  Senor,  por  nuestros  defectos,  que  a 
media  noche  se  quemara  toda  esta  Cibdad  sin  quedar  cosa  alguna 
en  ella,  ansi  mantenymientos,  como  todo  lo  demas  de  questaba  bien 
bastezida,  mas  que  nunca  lo  estuvo,  que  a sido  a todos  mucho  e muy 
general  dano  e perdida  : salvdse  esta  casa  de  Vuestra  Magestad,  que 
fize  por  su  mandado,  por  ser  de  otros  materiales  que  las  otras,  ques 
de  piedra,  barro  e ladrillo.”  Doc.  in(d.,  xli.  331. 


SANTA  MARTA  AND  CARTAGENA  53 

the  mouth  of  the  Magdalena  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Darien, 
or  Uraba.  This  concession  imposed  essentially  the  same 
conditions  as  that  under  which  Bastidas  had  founded 
Santa  Marta.1  From  the  spoils  of  his  excursions  among 
the  natives,  Heredia  was  able  to  employ  a large  sum  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  his  expedition.  Instructed  by  his  ex- 
perience, he  knew  what  articles  would  be  useful,  and  was 
thus  able  to  avoid  the  mistakes  made  by  some  of  the  pre- 
vious explorers,  who  had  burdened  themselves  with  things 
that  might  have  been  suitable  in  Spain,  but  were  ill- 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the  New  World. 

At  Seville  Heredia  enlisted  a hundred  and  fifty  men, 
constructed  two  ships,  and  provided  also  a small  vessel 
for  exploring  inlets  and  rivers  which  the  larger  vessels 
could  not  enter.  He  sailed  from  Cadiz  near  the  end  of 
1532.  He  touched  at  Porto  Rico  and  Santo  Domingo, 
where  a number  of  other  persons  joined  the  expedition. 
Among  these  was  Captain  Francisco  Cesar,  who  had  been 
one  of  Sebastian  Cabot’s  companions  on  the  voyage  to  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata.  Heredia  arrived  in  the  Bay  of  Cartagena 
in  January  1533.  He  had  appointed  Francisco  Cesar  to 
be  his  chief  lieutenant,  and  on  the  21st  of  January  he 
established  a municipality  at  the  site  of  the  present  city 
of  Cartagena.  After  the  death  of  Ojeda  and  La  Cosa,  the 
poisoned  arrows  of  the  Indians  inspired  a well-grounded 
fear  in  the  settlers,  and  they  accepted  San  Sebastian  as  the 
patron  saint  of  Cartagena,  because,  as  it  was  affirmed,  he 
had  been  killed  by  poisoned  arrows,  and  would,  therefore, 
be  especially  solicitous  to  ward  off  similar  assaults  by  the 
Indians.2 

The  most  peacefully-disposed  governor  could  not 
always  avoid  conflicts  with  the  natives  ; for,  on  account 
of  the  treatment  which  they  had  previously  received  at 

1 Doc.  inid.,  xxii.  325. 

2 Benedetti,  Historia  de  Colombia , 126  ; Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva 
Granada,  i.  14-16  ; Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  109-113  ; Piedrahita,  pp. 
79-82. 


54  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  it  was  difficult  to  make  any 
tribe  attach  great  importance  to  Spanish  professions  of 
friendship.  Hostility  became,  therefore,  almost  inevit- 
able whenever  a European  settlement  was  made  on  or 
near  territory  occupied  by  Indians.  Heredia  wished  to 
enter  into  such  relations  with  the  natives  that  he  could 
trade  with  them,  yet,  in  spite  of  his  wishes,  he  found  him- 
self, in  the  beginning,  involved  in  conflicts  with  several 
tribes.  But  in  the  course  of  time  he  drew  to  his  side 
some  of  the  tribes,  by  offering  to  assist  them  against  their 
enemies,  and  by  rendering  them  various  services  which 
indicated  his  friendly  spirit.  It  was  not  difficult  for  him 
to  see  that  to  establish  peaceful  relations  with  his  neigh- 
bours was  in  keeping  with  a wise  commercial  policy  ; for 
with  the  inexpensive  wares  which  he  had  brought  from 
Spain  for  distribution  among  them,  he  might  expect  to 
gain  more  gold  than  by  hostile  military  operations.  In 
his  most  successful  expedition  into  the  interior,  Heredia 
pursued  a policy  of  conciliation.  He  required  his  men  to 
camp  at  some  distance  from  the  Indian  towns,  in  order  by 
this  means  to  avoid  all  violence  and  disorder.  From  this 
expedition  he  returned  to  Cartagena  with  treasure  amount- 
ing to  more  than  a million  and  a half  of  golden  ducats. 
Each  common  soldier  received  from  this  sum  six 
thousand  ducats  after  the  royal  fifths,  the  governor’s 
portion,  and  the  parts  reserved  for  the  hospital,  the  cap- 
tains, and  other  purposes  had  been  withdrawn.  Among 
the  spoils  there  was  a figure  of  massive  gold,  weighing 
about  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  and  representing 
a porcupine.  It  was  found  in  a temple,  and  Acosta  says, 
“ they  took  it  away  instantly,  saying  they  could  not  con- 
sent to  such  beastly  idolatry.”  1 


1 Nueva  Granada,  118. 


SANTA  MARTA  AND  CARTAGENA  55 


V 

The  fame  of  the  riches  acquired  by  Heredia  and  his 
men  soon  made  Cartagena  the  most  frequented  point  of 
Tierra  Firme ; its  excellent  harbour  attracted  vessels 
bound  from  Spain  to  the  Isthmus  ; and  the  abundance 
of  gold  distributed  among  the  inhabitants  introduced  a 
certain  luxury  and  movement  not  characteristic  of  any 
other  settlement.  Owing  to  the  favourable  attitude  of  the 
neighbouring  Indians,  and  their  willingness  to  furnish  the 
products  of  their  fields,  there  was  no  lack  of  food  ; and 
the  vessels  from  Santo  Domingo  brought  an  abundance  of 
the  various  kinds  of  supplies  that  were  needed.  The  town 
grew  rapidly  in  population,  and  the  large  amount  of  easily- 
acquired  wealth  gave  it  the  appearance  of  great  prosperity. 

In  the  beginning  of  1534,  a new  expedition  was  under- 
taken. It  involved  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  fifty  of 
whom  were  mounted ; and  it  was  more  thoroughly 
equipped  than  any  of  the  expeditions  that  had  preceded 
it.  It  was  noteworthy  for  the  rich  spoils  derived  from  the 
cemetery  at  Zenu,  in  which  the  natives  of  the  district  had 
been  accustomed  to  bury  their  dead,  together  with  certain 
articles  of  value.  At  this  point  in  the  progress  of  the  ex- 
pedition, Heredia  departed  from  his  policy  of  peace  and 
conciliation,  and  ordered  the  cemetery  and  the  neighbour- 
ing town  to  be  pillaged.  From  the  temple  he  took  a num- 
ber of  bells  of  gold,  the  value  of  which  amounted  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  from  the  cemetery 
and  other  sources  enormous  sums  which  cannot  be  definitely 
and  accurately  stated  in  terms  of  a modern  measure  of 
value.  The  graves  at  Zenu  continued  to  be  exploited,  as 
if  they  were  mines,  long  after  the  return  of  this  expedition 
to  Cartagena  ; but  when  they  were  exhausted,  and  sub- 
sequent expeditions  failed  to  reveal  other  extraordinary 
sources  of  wealth,  the  adventurous  spirits  of  many  of  the 
inhabitants  urged  them  to  exploits  in  other  fields.  The 


56  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

province  of  Darien,  and  the  unexplored  valleys  of  the 
Atrato  and  the  Cauca  appeared  to  be  the  most  attractive 
fields  within  reach.  In  1536,  Governor  Heredia  under- 
took an  expedition  against  the  Dobaiba  on  the  Atrato, 
but  he  was  not  more  successful  than  those  who  had  failed 
in  a similar  undertaking  previously.  The  next  year  Fran- 
cisco Cesar  penetrated  the  valley  of  the  Cauca,  which  was 
then  “ the  most  densely  populated  and  most  thoroughly 
cultivated  of  the  territory  which  to-day  is  embraced  in  the 
province  of  Antioquia.”  1 

But  during  the  period  of  these  campaigns,  dissatis- 
faction with  the  conduct  of  the  governor  had  appeared 
in  Cartagena,  and  the  complaints  which  were  made 
warranted  the  appointment  of  a visitador  to  examine 
the  charges  that  had  been  brought  against  him,  and  to 
subject  him  to  the  trial  known  as  the  residencia.  The 
person  appointed  by  the  court  to  conduct  the  trial  having 
died  on  the  voyage  from  Spain,  the  audiencia  of  Santo 
Domingo  conferred  the  office  upon  Juan  dc  Vadillo,  a 
member  of  the  audiencia,  who  was  a brother  of  Pedro  de 
Vadillo,  formerly  governor  of  Santa  Marta.  The  evidence 
in  the  hands  of  the  visitador  seemed  to  incriminate  both 
the  governor  and  his  brother,  Alonso  de  Heredia,  and  both 
were  arrested.  The  most  serious  charges  were  that  they 
had  defrauded  the  public  treasury  in  the  distribution  of 
the  gold  taken  from  the  graves  at  Zenu,  and  had  mal- 
treated and  enslaved  the  Indians.  This  event  closed  the 
first  period  of  Heredia’s  administration  in  1537. 1 

1 Piedrahita,  86. 

2 Sec  letters  of  Juan  de  Vadillo  to  the  king,  dated  at  Cartagena, 
February  n,  October  13,  and  October  15,  1537,  Doc.  in6d.,  xli.  356- 
420. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA 

I.  The  contract  of  1528.  II.  Ambrosius  Ehinger  governor.  III. 
Arrival  of  Federmann  at  Coro.  IV.  Governor  Ehinger’s  second 
expedition  and  death.  V.  Conflict  of  factions  at  Coro.  VI. 
Federmann  and  Hohermut  von  Speier.  VII.  Von  Hutten’s  ex- 
pedition. VIII.  Carvajal. 


I 

Many  of  the  slave-traders  who  infested  the  northern  coast 
of  South  America  in  the  early  decades  belonged  to  a law- 
less class  of  persons,  over  whom  no  government  exercised 
any  effective  control.  The  conduct  of  these  persons  be- 
came at  length  so  scandalous  that  the  audiencia  of  Santo 
Domingo  was  moved  to  intervene,  and  it  decreed  that 
the  right  to  enslave  the  aborigines  should  be  held  only  by 
the  conquistadores,  and  not  by  the  crowd  of  obscure 
pirates  who  devastated  the  country.1 

The  difference  which  the  Spanish  government  sought 
to  emphasize  was  the  difference  between  unregulated  and 
regulated  plundering.  In  order  to  check  the  piratical 
incursions,  Juan  de  Ampues  was  commissioned  to  visit 
that  part  of  the  coast  which  lay  near  the  islands  inhabited 
by  the  pirates,  and  which  was,  therefore,  especially  subject 
to  their  raids.  He  was  not  authorised  to  form  settlements 
on  the  continent,  but  he  became  convinced  that  without 
a permanent  establishment  on  the  land  he  could  do 
very  little  to  diminish  the  activity  of  the  slave-traders. 
He  consequently  entered  into  friendly  relations  with  the 


1 Baralt  y Diaz,  Historia  de  Venezuela , i.  160. 
57 


58  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

powerful  chief  Manaure,  who  was  willing  to  place  himself 
in  a position  of  feudal  subjection  to  Ampues,  and  to  recog- 
nise the  sovereignty  of  the  Spanish  crown.  In  order  to 
carry  out  his  plan,  Ampues  obtained  possessions  in  the 
country,  and  founded  the  city  of  Santa  Ana  de  Coro  in 
1527.  The  peaceful  course  pursued  by  Ampues  might 
have  brought  happiness  and  prosperity  to  the  land, 
if  it  had  been  continued,  but  this  was  not  in  keep- 
ing with  the  warlike  spirit  of  Spain’s  government  under 
Charles  V.1 

The  wars  in  which  Charles  V was  engaged,  and  the  ordi- 
nary undertakings  of  his  government,  involved  him  in 
expenses  which  exceeded  his  regular  revenues,  and  to 
supply  the  deficit  he  had  recourse  to  borrowing.  Promi- 
nent among  his  creditors  were  the  Augsburg  merchants 
of  the  house  of  Welser.  For  some  years  this  house  had 
had  establishments  in  Spain,  and  if  a province  was  to  be 
ceded  to  any  company,  the  concession  would  very  natur- 
ally be  made  to  a company  that  had  already  extensive 
interests  in  Spain  and  Santo  Domingo.  Santo  Domingo, 
at  this  time,  was  the  point  from  which  expeditions  finally 
departed  for  the  continent,  and  from  which  authority 
was  exercised  over  establishments  on  the  coast  of  Tierra 
Firme.  In  1528  the  Spanish  crown  made  an  agreement 
granting  to  Heinrich  Ehinger  and  Hieronymus  Sailer  an 
exclusive  right  to  explore  and  settle  a region  extending 
along  the  coast  of  Venezuela  from  Cape  Maracapana  on 
the  east  to  Cape  de  la  Vela  and  the  border  of  the  province 
of  Santa  Marta  on  the  west.  This  grant  did  not  differ 
from  those  that  were  made  usually  to  the  early  conquis- 


1 Baralt  y Diaz,  Historia  de  Venezuela,  i.  147,  161  ; Haebler,  Unter- 
nehmungen  der  Welser,  137-9;  Benedetti,  Historia  de  Colombia,  122; 
Humbert,  Les  origines  vin&zutliennes,  31-3  ; Herrera,  Dec.  IV,  I,  VI,  c.  i. 
Oviedo  y Banos,  lib.  i.  cap.  iii.  ; Rojas,  Esludios  historicos,  93  ; Kloden,  in 
Zeitschrift  fur  allgemeine  Erdkunde  (Berlin,  1855),  437  ; Klunzinger, 
Antheil  der  Dculschcn  an  der  Entdeckung  von  Sudamerika  (Stuttgart, 
1857),  7,  8 ; Haebler,  in  Historisches  Taschenbuch  von  Raiimer  (Leipzig, 
1890),  207. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  59 

tadores.  The  union  of  the  Welser  company  and  the  house 
of  Ehinger  had  given  new  force  to  the  corporation,  and 
was  apparently  one  of  the  causes  of  its  prosperity  at  the 
time  the  grant  was  made.1 

The  principal  provisions  of  the  grant  were  the  follow- 
ing : The  persons  receiving  the  grant  should  found  two 
towns  within  two  years.  Each  of  the  towns  should  con- 
tain three  hundred  settlers.  They  should  also  establish 
three  forts,  but  no  limit  was  fixed  for  the  term  within 
which  the  forts  must  be  established.  The  title  of  governor 
and  captain-general  for  the  lifetime  of  the  persons  receiv- 
ing the  concession,  the  hereditary  titles  of  aguacil-mayor, 
adelantado,  and  teniente  were  at  the  disposal  of  the 
grantees,  under  the  supreme  authority  of  the  crown.  All 
articles  needed  for  the  sustenance  of  the  settlers  should 
be  admitted  free  of  duty  ; but  this  freedom  did  not  ex- 
tend to  wares  employed  in  trade.  Horses  and  cattle 
might  be  imported  from  the  West  Indian  Islands,  or  ex- 
ported to  these  islands.  The  colonists  should  receive, 
without  charge,  lots  for  their  houses  and  ground  for  cul- 
tivation, which  should  become  their  property  after  the 
latter  had  been  cultivated  by  them  for  four  years.  For 
a period  of  eight  years  the  colonists  should  be  free  from 
all  taxes.  For  the  first  three  years  they  should  deliver 
to  the  crown  only  a tenth  part  of  the  precious  metals,  and 
thereafter  an  amount  increased  annually  by  such  a sum 
that  with  the  eighth  year  and  afterwards  the  normal 
amount  of  one-fifth  of  the  whole  annual  product  should 
be  surrendered.  The  grantees  might  also  make  slaves  of 
such  Indians  as  offered  resistance  to  the  Europeans.  Dur- 

1 The  statement  made  by  Herrera  and  others  who  have  repeated 
his  opinion,  that  the  grant  was  made  by  Charles  V in  consideration 
of  the  services  of  the  Welser  company  in  loaning  money  to  the  emperor 
has  been  called  in  question  by  Haebler,  Eine  deutsche  Kolonie  in  Vene- 
zuela, 210,  and  the  view  of  Haebler  is  accepted  by  Humbert,  L' occu- 
pation allemande  du  Venezuela  au  XVI  siicle  (Paris,  1905),  5. 

Capitulacion  que  se  tomo  con  Enrique  Conquer  y Guillermo  Sayller, 
para  la  pacification  de  la  provincia  de  Santa  Marta,  Doc.  inSd.,  xxii. 
251-61. 


6o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


ing  this  year,  1528,  a number  of  agreements  were  made  be- 
tween the  Spanish  crown  and  Ehinger  and  Sailer.  In  one 
it  was  stipulated  that  they  should  introduce  fifty  German 
miners  into  the  colony  ; but  in  none  of  them  did  the  crown 
incur  any  obligations,  except  that  of  guaranteeing  to  the 
other  party  to  the  contract  the  use  of  the  territory  in  ques- 
tion. This  party,  moreover,  had  the  privilege  of  intro- 
ducing into  the  province  of  Venezuela  four  thousand  negro 
slaves  within  a period  of  four  years.1 


II 

When  the  men  had  been  enlisted,  and  the  Welser  ex- 
pedition made  ready,  the  fleet  of  four  vessels  set  sail  from 
the  harbour  of  San  Lucar,  on  the  7th  of  October  1528. 
Garcia  de  Lerma,  the  new  governor  of  Santa  Marta,  was 
on  board,  and  it  had  been  agreed  that  if  he  needed  assist- 
ance to  restore  order  in  his  disturbed  province,  men  from 
this  expedition  should  be  furnished  for  his  service.  Lerma 
was  taking  to  Santo  Domingo  the  emperor’s  confirmation 
of  the  appointment  of  Ambrosius  Ehinger  to  be  the  gover- 
nor of  the  province  of  Venezuela.  Ambrosius  Ehinger 
was  at  this  time  agent  of  the  company  in  Santo  Domingo, 

1 A more  complete  statement  of  the  terms  of  the  contract  of  1528 
is  given  in  Humbert,  L' occupation  allemande  du  Venezuela  au  XVIe 
si&cle,  5-10;  see  also  Haeblcr,  Die  iibcrsceischcn  U nternehmungen  der 
Welser  und  ihrer  Gesellschafter,  52-89.  In  the  documents  relating  to 
this  contract,  there  is  evidence  of  somewhat  more  than  the  usual  care- 
lessness with  respect  to  the  form  of  names.  The  name  of  one  of  the 
contracting  parties  appears  as  Eyngucr,  Ynguer,  Einger,  Inger,  Ynger, 
Ehinger,  and  Alfinger.  The  form  Alfinger,  particularly  as  applied  to 
Ambrosius,  appears  in  English,  but  Haebler  retains  the  more  usual 
form  of  Ehinger.  Humbert  uses  Alfinger  when  referring  to  Ambrosius 
and  Ehinger  when  designating  the  other  brothers.  " Was  urkundlich 
fiber  die  Familie  feststelit,  ist  das  folgcnde  : Heinrich,  Georg,  und 

Ambrosius  Ehinger,  die  anscheinend  alle  drei  um  1528  in  Beziehungen 
zu  der  Wclserischen  Gesellschaft  standen,  waren  leiblichc  Bruder  und 
stammten  von  Konstanz”  (Haebler,  Die  uberseeischen  Unternch- 
mungen  der  Welser,  41).  See  Real  Cedula,  August  7,  1535,  Doc.  ined., 
lxi.  344. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  61 


and  when  he  became  governor  of  Venezuela  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Sebastian  Rentz  von  Ulm.  The  number  of 
emigrants  going  by  this  fleet  was  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
one,  and  Governor  Lerma,  being  the  person  of  highest  rank 
on  board,  was  virtually  in  command  of  the  fleet.  When 
he  arrived  at  Santo  Domingo,  Lerma  determined  to  remain 
there  longer  than  Ambrosius  Ehinger  wished  to  do  ; he 
was  consequently  allowed,  in  accordance  with  a previous 
agreement,  to  have  one  of  the  smaller  vessels,  fifty  men, 
and  a sixth  part  of  the  fleet’s  supplies.  Ambrosius 
Ehinger,  the  newly-appointed  governor,  assumed  the  chief 
command  of  the  three  remaining  vessels,  and,  sailing  for 
the  coast  of  Venezuela, landed  near  Coro,  February  24, 1529. 

The  force  that  landed  with  Governor  Ehinger  con- 
sisted of  about  three  hundred  men.  Although  the  enter- 
prise was  under  the  direction  of  the  German  company,  the 
participants  were  not  all  Germans.  Among  them  were 
Spaniards,  Portuguese,  and  a number  of  negroes  from 
New  Guinea.  Ehinger  communicated  to  Ampues  the 
royal  order  which  required  his  removal  to  the  islands  of 
Oruba,  Curagao,  and  Buen  Ayre,  and  placed  the  company 
in  possession  of  Coro  and  the  province.  Ampues  was  sur- 
prised by  the  announcement  of  the  proposed  change,  and 
was  disposed  to  resist  the  execution  of  the  order.  He  was 
not,  however,  in  a position  to  offer  effective  resistance. 
Lest  he  should  be  placed  in  a position  of  disadvantage  as 
a consequence  of  his  hostility  to  Governor  Ehinger,  that 
officer  was  ordered,  in  new  instructions  dated  February  19, 
1530,  not  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  Ampues’  adminis- 
tration of  the  islands  left  in  his  charge.  Ampues,  who 
had  founded  the  town  of  Coro,  and  established  peaceful 
relations  with  the  Indians,  was  obliged  to  surrender  his 
authority,  and  witness  the  introduction  of  a policy  under 
which  the  Indians  were  regarded  as  a part  of  the  spoils  of 
conquest.1 

1 Humbert,  L’ ocxupation  allemande  du  Venezuela,  14,  15 ; this 
writer  affirms  that  Ehinger  was  accompanied  by  “ sept  cents  hommes 


62  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


The  original  purpose  of  the  Welser  company  in 
Venezuela  was  the  acquisition  of  wealth  by  trading,  and 
this  purpose  was  emphasized  until  the  withdrawal  of 
Heinrich  and  Georg  Ehinger.  At  this  time  a new  policy 
was  adopted,  under  winch  extensive  expeditions  into  the 
interior  of  the  country  were  undertaken. 

After  the  depressing  experiences  of  the  voyage,  the 
invaders  found  themselves  safely  established  at  Coro, 
wrhere  they  made  an  agreeable  and  convivial  use  of  the 
abundant  supply  of  provisions  they  had  brought  with 
them.  In  the  meantime,  stories  of  immense  treasures 
winch  the  natives  had  accumulated  were  circulated  among 
them,  and  inspired  them  with  an  impatient  zeal  to  secure 
the  wealth  which  they  fancied  could  be  had  without  diffi- 
culty. It  was,  therefore,  with  great  expectations  that 
Governor  Ehinger  formed  an  expedition  composed  of  a 
part  of  his  men,  and  entered  upon  his  first  journey  into 
the  wilderness.  He  proceeded  towards  the  south,  along 
the  shore  of  Lake  Maracaibo,  but  he  failed  to  find  the 
expected  treasure,  and  even  the  needed  food  was 
wanting.  His  men,  disappointed  and  discouraged,  were 
anxious  to  abandon  the  expedition,  and  the  leader, 
having  fallen  ill,  wished  to  return  to  Coro.  Soon  after 
his  arrival  at  Coro,  he  sailed  for  Santo  Domingo  in 
search  of  more  favourable  conditions  for  the  recovery  of 
his  health.1 


et  quatre-vingt  cavaliers.”  Castellanos,  Elegias  de  varones  ilustres 
de  Indias,  part  ii.  eleg.  i ; Oviedo  y Banos,  Conquista  y poblacion  de 
Venezuela,  i.  cap.  5 ; Schumacher,  Die  Unternehmungen  der  Augs- 
burger  Welser,  39;  Topf,  Deutsche  Statthalter  und  Konquistadoren  in 
Venezuela,  12  ; Haebler,  Ueberseeische  U enternehmungen  der  Welser, 
I43-H6. 

1 Humbert,  L' occupation  allemande  du  Venezuela,  20 ; Simon,  Las 
conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  37-9. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  63 


III 

While  Governor  Ehinger  was  absent  on  his  first  expedi- 
tion, Nicolas  Federmann  arrived  at  Coro.  He  had  left 
San  Lucar,  October  2,  1529.  At  Coro  he  caused  the  colo- 
nists to  recognise  him  as  interim  governor,  and  persuaded 
a hundred  men,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  Spaniards,  to 
follow  him  towards  the  south  in  search  of  the  undiscovered 
treasure.  He  had  made  haste  to  enter  upon  the  journey, 
in  order  to  be  the  first  to  reach  the  treasure,  for  it  had  been 
reported  to  him  that  both  Lerma,  of  Santa  Marta,  and 
Sedeno,  of  Cubagua,  were  also  preparing  expeditions  to 
the  unexplored  country.  The  notices  of  Federmann’s 
itinerary  are  so  confused  that  those  persons  who  have 
attempted  to  trace  it  have  reached  very  different  con- 
clusions. The  events  of  the  journey,  in  their  general 
character,  were  not  greatly  unlike  those  of  other  exploring 
enterprises  in  this  part  of  America.  There  were  attacks  on 
the  Indians  and  attacks  by  the  Indians  ; attempts  to 
force  caciques  to  reveal  treasures  which  they  did  not 
possess  ; the  flight  of  some  of  the  natives  to  the  moun- 
tains, and  the  stubborn  resistance  of  others  ; scarcity  of 
food,  and  disease  produced  by  want  and  exposure  ; and 
the  discovery  of  a sufficient  number  of  valuable  articles 
to  keep  alive  the  desire  for  further  explorations.  On 
March  17,  1531,  Federmann  and  his  followers  returned 
to  Coro.1 

1 A French  translation  of  Federmann’s  narrative  of  his  first  ex- 
pedition and  return  to  Spain  is  found  in  Ternaux’s  Voyages,  relations  et 
memoires  originaux  pour  servir  a I'histoire  de  la  dicouvertc  de  l' Amerique 
(Paris,  1837).  Reference  may  also  be  made  to  Klupfel,  K.,  Nik.  Feder- 
mann und  die  Welserische  Unternehmung  (in  Bib.  des.  Lit.  Vereins, 
xlvii.  199)  ; Klunzinger,  K.,  Antheil  der  Deutschen  an  der  Ent- 
deckung  von  SiXd-Ameriha,  cap.  6,  24-62  ; Weinhold,  M.,  Federmann’s 
Raise,  Anliangezu den  Jahresberichtendes  Vereins fiir Erdkunde , in  Dresden, 
iii.  (1865),  94-112  ; Schumacher,  Die  Unternehmungen  der  Augsburger 
Welser  in  Venezuela,  cap.  iv.  56-69  ; Topf,  Deutsche  Statthalter  und 
Konquistadoren  in  Venezuela,  18-19;  Pfister,  A.,  Ambrosius  Dalfinger 


64  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


For  several  years  members  of  the  Ehinger  family  had 
been  especially  prominent  in  the  management  of  the 
company’s  affairs.  They  had  been  efficient  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  commercial  house  established  at  Seville  under 
a concession  made  by  Charles  V in  1525.  This  concession 
conveyed  to  them  all  the  rights  respecting  trade  in 
America  that  were  enjoyed  by  Spanish  subjects.1  The 
enterprise  was  regarded  at  that  time  as  little  more  than 
a venture  of  this  family.  The  name  of  Welser  does  not 
appear  in  the  contracts  with  the  Spanish  government, 
and  Ambrosius  Ehinger  became  the  governor  of  the  pro- 
vince. But  in  1530  Heinrich  and  Georg  Ehinger  withdrew 
from  the  company,  requesting,  in  a communication  to  the 
emperor,  that  the  rights  which  had  been  given  to  them 
might  be  transferred  to  Anton  and  Bartholomaus  Welser. 
Charles  V reported  this  request  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies 
on  November  20,  1530  ; and  on  February  15  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  an  ordinance  was  issued  which  conferred  these 
rights  upon  Anton  Welser  and  Bartholomaus  Welser. 
This  ordinance  contained  essentially  the  same  provisions 
as  the  contract  of  1528.  With  this  change  the  under- 
taking fell  more  immediately  under  the  control  of  the 
Welser  family,  and  it  was  carried  on  in  their  name  ; but, 
in  spite  of  the  change,  Ambrosius  Ehinger  continued  to 
hold  the  office  of  governor.2 

und  Nikolaus  Federmann,  in  der  Allgemeinen  Deutschen  Biographien  ; 
Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  iii.  ; Haebler,  LJ eberseeische 
Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  187-96,  for  an  account  of  Federmann's 
later  expedition  and  his  meeting  with  Quesada,  see  pp.  246-77 ; 
Carta  de  los  Ofy dales  Reales  de  Venezuela  a Su  Mageslad,  July  30, 
1530,  Doc.  ined.,  xli.  315-28. 

1 Herrera,  Dec.  (Antwerp,  1614),  iii.  208 ; Haebler,  Unterneh- 
mungen der  Welser,  48;  Schumacher,  Die  Unternehmungen  der  Augs- 
bttrger  Welser  in  Venezuela,  in  Hamburger  Festschrift,  Bd.  II,  33. 

2 Humbert,  L' occupation  allemande  du  Venezuela,  12  ; Haebler 
Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  104. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  65 


IV 

The  crown  issued  the  usual  orders  that  the  Indians 
should  be  treated  as  free  men,  and  that  they  should  not 
be  given  too  much  work  ; but  at  the  same  time  provided 
that,  in  case  they  resisted  the  Europeans,  they  might  be 
reduced  to  slavery.  This  permission  was  quite  sufficient 
to  nullify  the  former  orders,  since  the  Europeans  were  not 
disposed  to  be  satisfied  with  less  than  the  full  advantage 
which  their  circumstances  offered.  Thus  the  altruistic 
injunctions  of  the  crown  brought  little  or  no  profit  to  the 
Indians.  The  Germans  received  their  concession,  not  for 
the  sake  of  any  opportunity  for  missionary  work  which  it 
might  present,  but  for  the  acquisition  of  wealth  by  trading. 
They  had  apparently  less  regard  for  the  natives  than  even 
the  Spaniards  ; and  a consideration  of  their  treatment 
of  the  Indians  will  help  to  modify  the  view  that  cruelties 
equal  to  those  practised  by  the  Spaniards  would  not  have 
appeared  if  any  other  nation  had  been  put  in  the  place 
of  Spain.1 

The  abuses  which  appeared  in  the  slave-trade  carried 
on  under  the  agreement  of  1528,  led  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment to  issue  a decree  on  August  2,  1530,  abolishing 
Indian  slavery  in  Venezuela.  But  this  action  called  forth 
a multitude  of  protests.  Governor  Ehinger  petitioned 
the  government  to  recall  its  prohibition,  and  urged  in 
support  of  his  petition  that  the  Venezuelan  undertaking 
had  already  cost  eighty  thousand  ducats,  and  that  the 
slave-trade  was  almost  the  only  source  of  revenue  that 
seemed  to  make  it  possible  for  the  company  to  meet  its 

1 Las  Casas  represents  Ambrosius  Ehinger  and  his  German  followers 
as  ferocious  beasts  : " Leur  unique  objet,  dit-il,  etait  d’enlever  l’or 
du  pays,  a quelque  prix  que  ce  fut ; ils  employerent  des  moyens  si 
odieux  que  les  Espagnols  parurent  de  gens  de  bien  a cote  de  ces  nou- 
veaux  speculateurs ; ils  surpassferent  les  tigres  en  ferocite,  et  ne  con- 
nurent  ni  Dieu,  ni  roi,  ni  sentiment  d’humanite.”  Memorial  addressed 
to  Prince  Philip,  afterwards  Philip  II,  in  1552,  article  XV. 

VOL.  I. 


E 


66  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


expenses.  At  the  same  time  he  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  agreement  of  1528  expressly  gave  him  the 
right  to  make  slaves  of  the  Indians.  The  king’s  reply, 
dated  May  10,  1531,  was  that  the  old  order  might  stand, 
but  with  the  important  limitation  that  slaves  might  not 
be  sold  to  be  taken  out  of  the  province.  This  limitation, 
however,  met  with  no  more  favour  than  the  original  decree. 
The  colonists,  called  together  by  Antonio  Orejon,  framed 
and  signed  a new  petition,  in  which  they  demanded  the 
right  to  export  slaves.  By  permitting  the  company  to 
enslave  the  Indians  who  offered  resistance  to  the  invaders, 
the  government  practically  surrendered  all  ground  on 
which  opposition  to  the  colonists  might  be  made  ; it  left 
to  the  colonists  to  determine  when  the  Indians  were  offer- 
ing resistance.  The  attempt  to  prevent  the  exportation 
of  slaves  was  ineffectual,  and  it  became  evident  that, 
whatever  were  the  wishes  of  the  Crown,  the  fate  of 
Venezuela  depended  less  on  the  royal  will  than  on  the 
interests  of  the  company. 

When  Federmann  reached  Coro  after  his  journey  of 
exploration,  Ambrosius  Ehinger  had  returned  from  Santo 
Domingo,  and  resumed  his  duties  as  governor.  Legal 
proceedings  were  instituted  against  Federmann  on  the 
charge  that  he  had  exceeded  his  rights  and  acted  without 
authority.  As  a result  of  this  trial  he  was  obliged  to  return 
to  Europe.  The  various  expeditions  into  the  interior  had 
failed  to  produce  the  expected  wealth,  and,  as  a conse- 
quence, the  colonists  found  themselves  not  only  without 
funds,  but  also  in  debt  to  the  Welser  company.  The 
company  was  more  or  less  embarrassed  by  the  fact  that 
many  of  those  to  whom  it  had  made  advances  had  died, 
leaving  nothing  to  liquidate  the  claims  against  them. 
Nevertheless,  the  colony  was  still  disposed  to  depend  on 
incursions  into  the  territory  of  the  natives.  On  the  9th 
of  June  1531,  Ambrosius  Ehinger  entered  upon  his  second 
expedition,  leaving  Bartolome  de  Santillana  as  his  deputy 
at  Coro.  He  halted  at  the  settlement  of  Maracaibo,  and 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  67 

sought  for  facilities  for  transportation  by  river,  but,  failing 
in  this,  he  left  Maracaibo,  September  1,  1531,  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty  men  on  foot  and  forty  men  mounted. 
The  region  through  which  he  passed  after  he  left  Mara- 
caibo presented  no  difficulties.  In  the  course  of  his  march 
he  came  to  the  territory  of  the  Pacabueyes.  At  a town 
called  Pauxotto,  he  remained  a number  of  days,  during 
which,  by  various  means,  he  obtained  from  the  natives 
articles  of  gold  valued  at  twenty  thousand  dollars.  These, 
with  some  part  of  his  previous  accumulations,  he  deter- 
mined to  send  back  to  Coro,  to  be  delivered  to  the  agent 
of  the  Welser  company.  This  property  was  entrusted  to 
Captain  Inigo  de  Vascuna,  who  was  placed  in  command 
of  twenty-four  Europeans.  He  was  ordered  to  proceed 
directly  to  Coro,  by  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Maracaibo, 
instead  of  going  back  to  the  town  of  Maracaibo  by  the 
route  over  which  the  expedition  had  advanced.  The 
difficulties  of  the  route  chosen  were  very  great.  Near  the 
southern  shore  of  the  lake  there  were  extensive  swamps 
and  rivers  to  be  crossed.  The  company  was  too  small  and 
too  poorly  equipped  to  defend  itself  against  attacks  by 
the  natives.  There  were  no  guides,  no  interpreters,  no 
adequate  supply  of  food,  and  no  means  of  transportation. 
When  it  became  evident,  on  account  of  exhaustion  and 
disease,  that  the  company  would  not  be  able  to  reach  Coro, 
they  buried  the  treasure,  and  agreed  that  each  should  be 
free  to  save  himself  in  any  way  he  might  choose.  They 
separated  into  little  groups  of  two  or  three,  and  wandered 
about  hopelessly  in  the  forests.  Only  one  survived  to 
tell  the  tale  of  the  disaster.  Francisco  Martin,  after  un- 
told privations  and  dangers,  was  hospitably  received  by 
an  Indian  tribe,  and  became  scarcely  less  a savage  than  his 
new  associates. 

In  the  land  of  the  Pacabueyes,  where  Ambrosius 
Ehinger  and  his  men  spent  several  months,  he  gathered 
a quantity  of  gold,  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  was  sorely 
oppressed  with  anxiety  concerning  the  fate  of  Vascuna. 


68  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


He  feared,  moreover,  that  while  he  was  pursuing  elusive 
fortune  in  the  wilderness,  the  establishments  at  Coro  and 
Maracaibo  might  be  wrecked  by  the  assaults  of  natives 
or  by  the  contests  of  internal  factions.  Finally,  in  a fight 
with  the  Indians  in  the  valley  of  Chinacota,  he  was 
wounded  in  the  neck  by  a poisoned  arrow,  and  died  a few 
days  later.1 


V 

After  the  death  of  Ambrosius  Ehinger,  the  history  of 
the  colony  was  a series  of  misfortunes,  which  proceeded 
chiefly  from  two  groups  of  events.  These  were  the  in- 
ternal confusion  and  contentions  with  respect  to  the 
government,  and  the  expeditions  by  which  the  country 
was  overrun  and  pillaged.  Immigrants  were  added  to  the 
colony  from  time  to  time,  but  the  majority  of  them  were 
drawn  into  the  exploring  expeditions,  while  the  lands  re- 
mained uncultivated,  and  Coro  as  the  capital  continued 
to  be  merely  an  unprogressive  and  miserable  village. 

Ambrosius  Ehinger  had  maintained  that  the  spoils  of 
the  journey  should  be  turned  over  to  the  Welser  com- 
pany in  Coro,  and  that  it  should  be  there  determined  what 
amounts  should  be  assigned  to  the  different  persons. 
Pedro  de  San  Martin,  the  royal  factor,  held  that  an  account 
of  the  treasure  accumulated  should  be  made,  and  that  it 
should  be  distributed  among  the  members  of  the  expedi- 
tion without  delay.  This  opinion  was  naturally  popular, 
and  San  Martin  was  immediately  elected  to  the  leader- 
ship made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Ehinger.  The  royal 
fifth  was  then  withdrawn,  and  when  the  division  of  the 
balance  had  been  made,  it  was  decided  that  each  person 
should  be  paid  one-half  of  his  allotment,  and  that  the  rest 
should  be  given  to  the  Welser  company  to  cover  its  claims 
against  the  individual  persons  concerned.  After  this 

1 Haebler,  Ueberseeische  Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  196-210; 
Humbert,  L' occupation  allemande  du  Venezuela,  27-36  ; Simon,  Las 
conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  39-48. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  69 

transaction,  the  members  of  the  expedition  took  up  the 
march  for  Coro.  On  this  journey  they  discovered  Fran- 
cisco Martin  among  the  Indians  of  one  of  the  tribes  which 
they  encountered.  He  was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  com- 
pany that  had  been  sent  to  Coro  under  Vascuna.  At 
Maracaibo  they  halted  for  a period  of  recuperation,  and 
then,  under  the  command  of  Pedro  de  San  Martin,  they 
returned  to  Coro,  where  they  arrived  November  2,  1533. 1 

The  fears  which  Ambrosius  Ehinger  had  entertained 
respecting  the  relation  of  the  several  factions  to  one 
another  at  Coro  proved  to  be  well  founded.  The  royal 
officials  were  opposed  to  the  officials  of  the  Welser  com- 
pany ; Santillana,  as  interim  governor,  was  in  conflict 
with  Rodrigo  Vasquez  de  Acuna,  the  treasurer  ; and  the 
friendly  relations  which  Ampues  had  formed  with  the 
Indians  under  Manaure  were  broken  off.  The  inhabitants 
of  Coro  had  received  articles  of  food  from  the  Indians  who 
cultivated  the  lands  near  the  settlement  ; but,  after  the 
breach  with  Manaure,  that  chief  withdrew  with  his  tribes- 
men to  the  interior  of  the  country.  This  compelled  the 
Europeans  to  seek  food  elsewhere,  and  placed  them  under 
severe  embarrassment,  not  merely  for  lack  of  provisions, 
but  also  for  lack  of  labourers.  This  inconvenience  of  the 
colonists  was  also  further  increased  by  an  uprising  of  the 
Indians,  which  induced  Santillana  to  order  that  no  one 
should  venture  more  than  a few  rods  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  town.  A new  element  was  added  to  the  confusion, 
when  the  royal  officials  sought  to  draw  the  audiencia  of 
Santo  Domingo  into  the  controversy,  by  sending  to  that 
body  an  extensive  document  containing  charges  against 
Santillana.  At  this  point  the  survivors  of  Ehinger’s  ex- 
pedition arrived.  They  became  involved  in  the  contest 

1 Haebler,  Ueberseeische  Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  210,  211  ; 
Castellanos,  Elegias,  202;  Simon,  Las  conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i. 
43,  44  ; Oviedo  y Banos,  Historia  de  la  conquista  y poblacion  de  Vene- 
zuela, i.  cap.  vii.  ; Humbert,  L’ occupation  allemande  du  Venezuela,  36 ; 
Piedrahita,  Historia  general  de  la  conquista  del  nuevo  reyno  de  Granada, 
88. 


70  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

in  opposition  to  Santillana,  who  was  imprisoned,  and  the 
headship  of  the  colony  was  conferred  temporarily  upon 
Pedro  de  San  Martin.  When  the  news  of  Ehinger’s  death 
reached  Santo  Domingo,  the  audiencia  formally  deposed 
Santillana,  and,  on  May  4,  1534,  appointed  Bishop  Rodrigo 
de  Bastidas  to  be  the  provisional  governor  of  the  province.1 

Bishop  Bastidas  had  been  appointed  to  the  office  of 
Protector  of  the  Indians  by  the  crown  with  the  view  to 
defend  them  against  the  greed  of  unscrupulous  settlers. 
The  functions  of  this  officer  extended  only  to  such  Indians 
as  had  been  made  subject  to  Europeans,  either  as  house 
slaves  or  as  vassals  under  the  system  of  repartimientos. 
But  the  plan  was  not  successful.  The  material  interests 
of  the  colonists  were  ranged  against  the  decrees  of  the  king 
and  the  orders  of  the  protector.  In  this  case,  and  in  many 
other  cases,  royal  decrees  or  orders  that  contravened  the 
interests  of  the  dominant  persons  or  class  in  the  colonies 
were  not  carried  out. 


VI 

The  members  of  the  Welser  company  regarded  the 
action  of  the  audiencia  as  an  unwarranted  interference 
with  their  rights  ; and  they  finally  concluded  to  ignore 
this  action  and  to  proceed  to  elect  a governor  on  whom 
they  could  rely.  The  choice  fell  at  first  on  Nikolaus 
Federmann,  and  the  election  was  ratified  in  Spain, 
July  19,  1533.  Having  been  confirmed  in  this  office, 

1 Haebler,  Ueberseeische  Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  212-17. 
Bishop  Bastidas  was  a son  of  Rodrigo  de  Bastidas,  one  of  the  early 
explorers  of  Tierra  Firme,  who  sailed  from  Spain  in  1500,  and  who 
became  the  first  governor  of  Santa  Marta.  He  was  created  Bishop 
of  Coro  by  Clement  VII,  July  1,  1532.  At  the  time  of  his  appoint- 
ment he  was  dean  of  the  cathedral  of  Santo  Domingo.  For  an  exa- 
mination of  the  career  of  Bishop  Bastidas,  see  A.  Rojas,  Estudios 
histdricos,  i.  104-22 : " Armados  de  la  critica  mis  severa  podemos 
juzgar  al  Obispo  Bastidas  como  un  espiritu  creador,  recto  y caritativo, 
i pesar  de  haber  sido  victima  durante  su  permanencia  en  Venezuela, 
de  la  epidemia  de  El  Dorado,"  p.  122. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  71 

Federmann  left  the  court,  which  was  then  at  Valladolid, 
to  return  to  Seville.  He  was,  however,  soon  overtaken  and 
recalled  by  .‘a  courier  from  the  Council  of  the  Indies.  The 
Council  had  acted  without  full  information,  and,  when  it 
had  learned  more  about  Federmann,  and  received  the  pro- 
tests of  the  colonists  presented  through  their  delegates, 
it  annulled  the  confirmation  of  the  election.  By  a new 
election,  the  company  presented  the  name  of  Georg 
Hohermut  von  Speier,  its  commercial  agent  in  Seville, 
whom  the  Spaniards  call  Jorge  de  Spira.  He  had  not  been 
in  America,  and  was  not  antagonised  by  any  of  the  factions 
in  the  province.  There  was,  therefore,  no  effective  opposi- 
tion to  his  confirmation,  which  was  had  January  28,  1535. 
To  allay  the  disappointment  of  Federmann,  the  office  of 
captain-general  was  separated  from  that  of  governor, 
and  conferred  upon  him.  In  the  meantime  the  emigra- 
tion agents  had  brought  together  six  hundred  persons 
to  be  added  to  the  population  of  Venezuela.  By  the 
middle  of  October  1534,  the  little  fleet  of  three  vessels, 
which  was  designed  to  take  them  and  the  new  governor 
to  America,  was  ready  to  put  to  sea.  The  first  attempt 
to  depart  was  defeated  by  a storm,  which  drove  them 
back  to  port,  and  it  was  not  until  February  7,  1535,  that 
Von  Speier  reached  Coro. 

On  landing  in  Venezuela,  the  governor  had  to  consider 
what  policy  should  be  pursued  ; whether  the  decree  of 
the  king,  requiring  the  distribution  and  colonisation  of 
the  lands  already  explored  should  be  carried  out,  or  new 
expeditions  of  discovery  should  be  undertaken.  In  the 
determination  of  this  question,  not  merely  the  wish  of 
the  governor,  but  also  the  inclination  of  the  settlers,  had 
to  be  consulted.  It  was  found,  however,  that  all  were 
of  one  mind.  The  spirit  of  adventure  in  all  parties 
demanded  new  expeditions  into  unexplored  regions. 
The  possibility  of  obtaining  rich  spoils  was  more  attrac- 
tive than  the  certainty  of  an  assured  but  meagre  exist- 
ence supported  by  cultivation.  It  was,  therefore,  agreed 


72  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

that  the  policy  of  the  preceding  governor  should  be  con- 
tinued. This  state  of  mind,  and  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
had  withdrawn  from  the  district  of  Coro,  made  the  pro- 
posed distribution  of  land  of  no  importance  whatsoever. 
The  Spaniards  would  not  cultivate  it,  and  the  Indians 
had  found  it  for  their  interest  to  retire  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Europeans.  The  few  expeditions  of 
explorers  in  America  that  had  brought  wealth  to  the  parti- 
cipants exerted  a more  powerful  influence  on  the  minds  of 
the  colonists  than  the  many  that  had  brought  disaster 
and  poverty.  Thus,  with  four  hundred  men,  the  new 
governor  took  up  his  march  into  the  interior,  and  for  four 
years  he  scoured  the  wilderness  for  gold  and  slaves. 

Federmann  held  an  anomalous  position  at  Coro  after 
Hohermut  von  Speier  had  entered  upon  his  expedition 
into  the  interior.  He  had  been  awarded  the  title  of 
captain-general,  but  it  was  not  clear  what  the  functions 
and  duties  of  this  office  were,  wThen  it  wTas  separated  from 
that  of  viceroy,  governor,  and  president.  He  remained 
for  some  time  inactive  at  Coro,  expecting  to  receive  infor- 
mation that  he  had  been  appointed  governor  of  the  pro- 
vince. Such  an  appointment  was  made  on  November  5, 
1535.  It  was  similar  to  that  of  July  19,  1534,  which  was 
revoked.  But  as  late  as  February  17,  1536,  the  certificate 
of  this  appointment  had  not  reached  him.  He  made  an 
expedition  along  the  coast  to  the  boundary  of  the  neigh- 
bouring province,  where  Governor  Lerma  had  pursued  a 
liberal  policy  with  respect  to  the  explorers  from  Venezuela. 
Even  expeditions  of  discovery,  in  the  time  of  Governor 
Ambrosius  Ehinger,  did  not  provoke  him  to  hostility,  or 
call  forth  a protest.  But  this  state  of  things  underwent 
a change  after  the  arrival  of  Governor  Lugo,  who  not  only 
protested  against  the  incursions  of  his  neighbour,  but  made 
them  the  subject  of  judicial  proceedings.  Having  returned 
to  Coro,  Federmann  prepared  for  a new  expedition,  which 
became  especially  noteworthy  for  his  merciless  treatment 
of  the  natives,  and  for  his  final  advance  to  the  plateau  of 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  73 

Bogota,  and  his  meeting  with  Gonzalo  Jimenez  de  Ouesada 
and  Sebastian  de  Benalcazar.1 

While  Federmann  and  Hohermut  von  Speier  were 
absent  from  Coro,  the  audiencia  of  Santo  Domingo  ap- 
pointed Dr.  Antonio  Navarro,  July  6,  1537,  as  royal  com- 
missioner and  judge  to  subject  the  conduct  of  the  Welser 
company  to  a judicial  investigation.  The  members  of 
the  audiencia  were  moved  to  this  action  by  the  numerous 
complaints  which  had  reached  them  concerning  the  abuses 
of  the  Welser  administration.  The  investigation  pro- 
posed was  the  residencia,  to  which  ordinarily  the  conduct 
of  individual  officials  was  subjected  at  the  expiration  of 
their  term  of  service.  The  salary  of  the  judge  was  to  be 
paid  out  of  the  funds  of  the  province,  and,  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  inquiry,  the  power  of  the  public  officials 
was  suspended  and  provisionally  conferred  upon  the  judge. 
The  circumstances  of  the  province  at  the  time  chosen  for 
the  process  were  not  favourable  for  a thorough  examina- 
tion of  the  grounds  of  the  complaints.  The  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  were  with  Federmann  and  Hohermut  von 
Speier  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  At  Coro  there  were 
not  more  than  sixty  persons,  and  these  had  not  gone  with 
the  rest,  because,  on  account  of  sickness  or  some  other  in- 
firmity, they  had  not  sufficient  force  for  the  undertaking. 
Prior  to  the  appointment  of  Navarro  they  had  been  tem- 
porarily under  the  rule  of  Francisco  de  Venegas  ; but  a 
short  time  before  his  death,  which  must  have  occurred 
earlier  than  July  6,  1537,  transferred  his  authority  to 
Pedro  de  Cuebas.  This  miserable  remnant  of  the  colony 
could  not  and  would  not  give  the  evidence  required. 
Navarro,  therefore,  found  it  necessary  to  postpone  the 
case  indefinitely,  a result  which  was  probably  not  dis- 

1 Haebler,  Ueberseeische  Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  246-60; 
Oviedo  y Banos,  Conquista  y poblacicn  de  Venezuela,  i.  cap.  vii-xiii.  ; 
Kloden,  Die  Welser  als  Besitzer  von  Venezuela,  442  ; Klunzinger,  Antheil 
der  Deutschen,  84-91  ; Schumacher,  Die  Unternehmungen  der  Welser, 
113-26  ; Topf,  Deutsche  Statthalter , 42-6  ; Herrera,  Dec.  VI,  cap.  xx. ; 
Klupfel,  Nikolaus  Federmann,  in  Bib.  Lit.  Vereins,  xlvii.  199, 


74  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

agreeable,  inasmuch  as,  while  exercising  the  chief  power 
in  the  province,  he  demanded  the  salary  of  the  governor 
in  addition  to  that  which  he  was  already  receiving  as 
judge. 

The  sending  of  Navarro  was  regarded  by  the  Welser 
company  as  another  unwarranted  intervention  on  the 
part  of  the  audiencia  of  Santo  Domingo,  and  on  a direct 
appeal  by  the  members  of  this  company  to  the  central 
authority,  the  unfortunate  episode  of  Navarro’s  rule  was 
brought  to  an  end  in  1538.  Navarro  was  finally  arrested, 
and  embarked  for  Santo  Domingo,  and  died  on  the  voyage.1 

The  next  year,  1539,  the  governor,  Hohermut  von 
Speier,  returned  to  Coro  from  his  principal  excursion  into 
the  wilderness.  Of  the  four  hundred  men  with  whom  he 
set  out,  only  one  hundred  and  sixty  remained  alive.  One 
might  well  suppose  that  the  men  who  had  returned  gaunt 
and  exhausted  from  four  years’  wandering  in  a savage  and 
trackless  country  would  regard  themselves  as  fortunate 
in  having  escaped  the  sad  fate  of  the  majority  of  their 
original  company,  and  that  for  the  future  they  would  be 
disposed  to  avoid  similar  expeditions,  where  the  chances 
of  perishing  outnumbered  those  of  surviving.  But  the 
spirit  of  these  men  is  not  presented  by  such  a supposition. 
After  a short  period  of  recuperation,  they  awaited  with 
impatience  the  organisation  of  a new  expedition.  When, 
therefore,  Hohermut  von  Speier  determined  to  make  one 
more  journey  of  exploration,  he  found  his  men  were  ready 
to  follow  him.  He  went  to  Santo  Domingo  to  expedite 
work  on  his  equipment,  and  was  again  in  Coro  in  the  spring 
of  1540.  His  preparations  were  so  far  advanced  that  he 
felt  justified  in  sending  forward  a division  of  one  hundred 
men  under  the  command  of  Lope  de  Montalvo.  But  he 
was  destined  not  to  follow.  He  died  on  June  11,  1540. 

No  provision  had  been  made  for  a successor,  except  his 
appointment  of  Pedro  de  Villegas  to  hold  the  position  until 

1 Haebler,  U eberseeische  Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  222-46,  278- 
297  ; Simon,  Las  conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  93-114,  165-73. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  75 

the  arrival  of  a new  governor.  This  disposition  of  affairs 
met  with  opposition,  and  in  the  autumn  the  audiencia 
approved  the  accession  of  Bishop  Bastidas,  since  he  had 
already  been  designated  by  the  Welser  company  to  succeed 
Hohermut  von  Speier. 

Bishop  Bastidas,  who  under  Navarro  had  exercised  a 
beneficent  influence  as  a mediator  between  the  hostile 
parties  of  Coro,  had  too  much  of  the  blood  of  the  con- 
quistador to  be  satisfied  with  the  mission  of  a peace- 
maker. He  had  been  in  the  country  a number  of  years, 
and  had  been  made  protector  of  the  Indians,  but  there  is 
no  evidence  that  he  furnished  them  any  protection,  or 
that  he  protested  against  the  abominable  practices  of  the 
Welsers.  He  had  not  only  been  silent,  but,  having  suc- 
ceeded to  the  place  of  chief  authority,  he  even  followed  the 
example  of  his  predecessors.  He  sent  an  expedition  against 
the  Indians  of  Maracaibo,  which  returned  with  a small 
amount  of  gold  and  five  hundred  Indian  slaves.  Another 
expedition  sought  El  Dorado,  but  the  gilded  prince  was 
not  found,  and  a few  more  outrages  were  added  to  those 
which  marked  the  rule  of  this  company.  Almost  the  only 
effort  in  behalf  of  civilisation  during  the  eighteen  years  of 
the  Welsers’  domination  was  the  founding"  of  the  city  of 
Tocuyo,  in  1545,  by  Governor  Carvajal.  Its  first  popula- 
tion was  fifty-nine  Spaniards  ; its  government  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  two  alcaldes  and  four  regidores.  This  was 
the  only  municipal  establishment  made  in  Venezuela 
during  the  domination  of  the  Welser  company,  and  the 
impulse  under  which  it  was  formed  proceeded  from  the 
Spanish  authorities,  and  the  persons  who  actually  made 
the  settlement  were  Spaniards,  and  not  Germans. 

VII 

After  Hohermut ’s  death  the  company  which  he  had 
sent  out  under  Montalvo  determined  to  continue  the  ad- 
vance, and  to  follow  the  course  of  Federmann’s  march. 


76  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

They  reached  the  plateau  of  Bogota,  and  thus,  establish- 
ing themselves  there,  withdrew  a hundred  men  from  the 
Welser  province.  The  population  of  the  province  of 
Venezuela  was,  however,  increased  by  new  arrivals  from 
Europe,  among  whom  was  Bartholomaus  Welser,  who 
proceeded  to  organise  an  expedition,  which  was  placed 
under  the  leadership  of  Philip  von  Hutten.  Under  Von 
Hutten  there  were  two  captains  : Bartholomaus  Welser, 
appointed  on  account  of  his  family’s  position,  and  Pedro 
de  Limpias,  on  account  of  his  experience  in  connection 
with  previous  expeditions  and  his  known  ability  as  a leader 
under  the  conditions  they  were  destined  to  encounter. 

The  expedition  appears  to  have  been  organised  in  such 
a manner  as  to  make  it  as  independent  of  Indian  carriers 
as  possible.  The  execution  of  this  design  was  facilitated 
by  the  unusual  number  of  horses  that  were  available.  On 
setting  out  from  Coro,  August  i,  1541,  the  company  con- 
sisted of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  nearly  all  of 
whom  were  mounted.  After  the  departure  of  Von  Hutten 
the  bishop-governor  found  little  to  engage  his  attention  in 
Coro,  which,  with  the  loss  of  Montalvo’s  men  and  the 
members  of  Von  Hutten’s  expedition,  was  reduced  to  a dull 
village  of  the  frontier.  His  prospect  of  promotion  natu- 
rally lessened  the  attractiveness  of  his  office  at  Coro.  He 
returned  to  Santo  Domingo,  and,  while  there,  in  January 
1542,  he  was  informed  of  his  appointment  to  the  bishopric 
of  San  Juan,  in  Porto  Rico.  This  transfer  closed  his  con- 
nection with  the  Welser  administration  of  Venezuela,  in 
which,  for  ten  years,  he  had  played  a more  or  less  im- 
portant role. 

Von  Hutten,  like  all  of  the  leaders  of  the  expeditions  in 
Tierra  Firme,  was  moved  by  the  expectation  of  finding, 
among  the  natives,  stores  of  the  precious  metals,  which 
would  enrich  all  the  members  of  the  company.  As  he 
proceeded  westward  along  the  coast,  and  then  southward 
to  the  region  of  the  Guaviare  and  the  land  of  the  Omaguas, 
he  received  from  many  sources  stories  of  an  immensely 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  77 

wealthy  people  living  in  the  heart  of  the  continent. 
These  were  the  familiar  stories  of  El  Dorado,  which  in- 
flamed the  minds  of  explorers  for  many  decades.  Not 
only  were  many  persons  convinced  of  the  truth  of  these 
stories,  but  some,  dominated  by  a peculiar  infatuation, 
affirmed  that  they  had  seen  the  wonderful  city,  which 
could  be  no  other  than  the  residence  of  the  gilded  prince  ; 
but  every  expedition  had  been  obliged  to  halt  and  turn 
back  before  reaching  it.  Von  Hutten’s  expedition  was 
no  exception  to  the  rifle  ; but  when  he  went  northward 
after  his  conflict  with  the  Omaguas,  it  was  not  with  the 
intention  of  relinquishing  his  purpose  to  capture  the 
famous  prince  and  take  possession  of  his  capital.  He 
found  it  necessary  to  return  in  order  to  recruit  his 
depleted  force  and  seek  additional  supplies.1 


VIII 

Von  Hutten  expected,  moreover,  on  reaching  Coro,  to 
enter  upon  the  exercise  of  his  functions  as  captain-general, 
and  thus  to  be  placed  in  a position  where  he  would  be  able 
to  undertake  further  discoveries  with  greater  resources 
than  it  had  been  possible  for  him  to  command  hitherto. 
But  in  the  meantime,  after  the  nominal  headship  of  the 
colony  had  passed  from  Bastidas  to  Diego  de  Buiza,  and 
from  Buiza  to  Rembold,  it  was  assumed  by  Juan  de  Car- 
vajal,  under  whom  the  affairs  of  the  colony  drifted  into 
hopeless  confusion.  Coro  suffered  now  an  aggravation  of 
its  many  phases  of  adverse  fortune.  No  one  appeared  to 
have  much  interest  in  it,  except  as  a starting-point  of  ex- 
ploring expeditions.  Wealth  that  might  have  furthered 

1 Oviedo  y Valdez,  Historia  general,  ii.  323  ; Castellanos,  Elegias,  228 ; 
Haebler,  Ueberseeische  U nternehmungen  der  Welser,  304-11  ; in  four 
numbers  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  January  to  April 
1912,  J.  A Manso  has  presented  under  the  title,  The  Quest  of  El  Dorado, 
a general  account  of  the  expeditions  undertaken  to  reach  the  mythical 
dominions  of  the  gilded  prince. 


78  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


its  material  prosperity  was  expended  in  equipping  and 
maintaining  companies  of  adventurers.  The  Indians  of 
the  surrounding  country,  if  they  had  remained  culti- 
vating the  land,  might  have  added  greatly  to  the  food 
supplies,  but  they  had  found  it  advisable  to  withdraw 
beyond  the  town’s  economic  horizon.  But  quite  as  fruit- 
ful of  misfortune  as  any  of  these  facts  was  the  partisan 
hostility  winch  one  part  of  the  inhabitants  entertained 
for  the  rest.  An  expression  of  this  was  seen  in  Carvajal’s 
enmity  as  manifested  towards  Von  Hutten  and  Bartholo- 
maus  Welser.  Intercepting  Von  Hutten  and  his  men,  w'ho 
were  returning  to  Coro,  he  caused  Von  Hutten  and  Welser 
and  a number  of  others  to  be  murdered.1 

Although  Coro  had  existed  for  eighteen  years,  it  was 
still  hardly  considered  as  permanently  established.  A 
part  of  the  inhabitants  wished  to  abandon  the  site,  and 
seek  a place  w’here  the  conditions  were  more  favourable 
for  building  a city  ; and  practically  the  whole  population 
recognised  the  fact  that  the  German  occupation  had  done 
little  or  nothing  to  advance  the  colony  towards  civilisation. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  had  caused  such  a depopulation  of 
the  province  that  a great  outcry  wras  raised  against  the 
Welser  administration.  The  country  was  reduced  to  the 
state  of  a desert,  and  Coro  was  converted  into  a slave- 
market.  The  Spaniards  were  divided  into  factions,  and 
the  hatred  and  hostility  which  they  displayed  towards 
the  German  company  caused  great  public  disorder. 

The  grant  w’hich  had  been  made  to  the  company  w'as 
rescinded,  and  the  rule  of  the  Germans  was  ended  in  1546. 
The  province  of  Venezuela  then  reverted  to  the  crown, 
and  Juan  Perez  de  Tolosa  was  sent  from  Spain  as  governor 
and  captain-general.  The  effect  of  this  change  was  to 
diminish  plundering  expeditions,  and  to  increase  the  secu- 
rity of  property.  Under  the  new  order  of  things,  the 

1 Haebler,  Ueberseeische  U nternehmuvgen  der  IVelser,  311-38; 
Oviedo  y Banos,  ii.  228,  324,  157-60,  242,  170,  182  ; Herrera,  Dec.  VII, 
236  ; Castellanos,  Elegias,  235,  237. 


WELSER  COMPANY  IN  VENEZUELA  79 

Indians,  instead  of  being  captured  and  sold  as  slaves,  were 
distributed  among  the  Spanish  settlers  under  the  law  of 
encomiendas  ; and  the  organisation  of  the  colony  was 
made  to  assume  the  form  that  had  been  established  in  the 
other  colonies  under  Spanish  rule. 

Tolosa  was  appointed  governor  of  Venezuela  on 
September  12,  1545,  but  it  was  nearly  nine  months  later, 
in  the  beginning  of  June  1546,  when  he  arrived  in  Coro. 
His  first  task  was  to  relieve  the  colony  of  the  presence  of 
Carvajal,  who  now  appeared  in  the  double  role  of  murderer 
and  rebel.  The  execution  of  Carvajal  ended  all  the  resist- 
ance ; Carvajal’s  men  hastened  to  acknowledge  Tolosa 
as  the  legitimate  representative  of  the  crown.  The  ap- 
pointment of  Tolosa  was  not  the  end  of  the  Welser  epi- 
sode in  the  history  of  Venezuela.  This  was  followed  by 
a series  of  charges  and  counter-charges,  and  by  a line  of 
judicial  processes,  which  were  continued  for  ten  years, 
until  a decision  was  rendered  by  the  Council  of  the  Indies 
in  1556.  By  this  decision  all  claims  of  the  Welser  com- 
pany to  the  province  of  Venezuela  were  finally  set  aside.1 

1 An  account  of  these  legal  controversies  is  given  by  Haebler, 
Uebevseeische  U nternehmungen  der  Welser , 338-97.  On  the  state  of 
Coro  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Altolaguirre,  in  Rela- 
ciones  geograficas  de  la  gobernacion  de  Venezuela , xvi.,  quotes  Bishop 
Miguel  Jeronimo  Ballesteros,  who  wrote  in  October  1550  : “ On  the 
3rd  of  April  1549  I arrived  in  this  province  . . . the  city  of  Coro, 
which  is  on  the  coast,  is  inhabited  by  about  forty  persons,  very  poor 
and  some  of  them  ill.  In  the  town  of  Coro  there  is  a church  of  straw.” 


CHAPTER  V 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA  AFTER  THE 
WELSER  EPISODE 


I.  The  founding  of  cities.  II.  Miguel,  the  negro  king.  III.  Fa- 
jardo's projects  and  campaigns.  IV.  Caracas  made  the  capital. 
V.  Rojas’  misgovernment.  VI.  Excesses  of  Leguisamon  as  judge. 
VII.  Evidence  of  Venezuela’s  progress. 


I 

The  introduction  of  the  Spanish  system  by  Governor 
Perez  de  Tolosa  and  his  successor,  Juan  de  Villegas,  par- 
ticularly that  feature  of  it  which  assigned  the  Indians  for 
service  to  the  Europeans,  was  necessarily  attended  with 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  permanent  settlements.  As 
long  as  it  was  the  policy  of  the  Europeans  in  Venezuela 
to  capture  the  Indians  and  sell  them  to  be  taken  to  other 
provinces  or  to  the  adjacent  islands,  the  principal  business 
of  the  colony  was  hunting  Indians  for  the  slave-market. 
But  when  lands  were  assigned  to  the  Spaniards,  Indians 
were  needed  to  cultivate  them,  and  this  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Europeans  and  their  dependents  in 
permanent  groups.  The  transfer  of  the  colony  to  the 
crown  was  thus  followed  by  a new  condition  of  affairs. 
Juan  de  Villegas  resisted  the  temptation  to  fit  out  ex- 
peditions for  exploration  and  slave-hunting ; and  he 
determined  to  encourage  the  inhabitants  to  adopt  the 
ways  of  civilised  life.  To  this  end  he  urged  them  to  estab- 
lish themselves  permanently,  either  as  encomendores  in 
the  country  or  as  supporters  of  the  industries  and  trade  of 
the  cities.  In  1549  he  founded  the  town  of  Concepcion 

80 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA  81 


de  Barburata,  which,  owing  to  its  favourable  position, 
made  rapid  progress  in  the  beginning  ; but  its  prosperity 
invited  attacks  by  the  buccaneers,  and,  in  1568,  it  was 
abandoned.  Villegas  founded  another  city  in  1552,  which 
he  called  Nueva  Segovia,  but  which  was  later  known  as 
Barquisimeto.1 


II 

The  inhabitants  of  this  latter  town  acquired  a very 
considerable  profit  from  the  mines  of  San  Filipe  de  Buria. 
The  labourers  in  the  mines  were  negro  slaves  and  a large 
number  of  Indians  from  the  encomiendas,  who  were  under 
the  direction  of  Spanish  miners.  One  of  the  negroes, 
named  Miguel,  anticipating  punishment,  escaped  and  took 
refuge  in  the  mountains.  He  had  acquired  a knowledge 
of  the  Spanish  language,  and  was  noted  for  his  fluency  of 
speech.  He  appealed  to  his  fellows,  and  sought  to  per- 
suade them  to  follow  him  and  enjoy  their  liberty.  In  the 
course  of  time,  after  several  attacks  on  the  mining  com- 
munity, he  gathered  a hundred  and  eighty  negroes  and 
Indians  about  him,  and  was  able  to  exercise  dictatorial 
power  over  them  by  means  of  his  rude  eloquence,  his 
ostentation,  and  arrogance,  and  the  belief  of  his  followers 
that  he  was  invincible.  In  his  mountain  retreat  he  con- 
structed fortifications  about  the  place  he  had  designated 
as  the  capital  of  his  kingdom.  A negress  who  had  been 
his  mistress  became  the  queen,  and  a little  son  she  had 
borne  him  was  made  to  take  an  oath  as  the  heir  to  the 
crown.  He  established  the  episcopal  office,  and  appointed 
a negro  to  be  the  bishop  ; at  the  same  time  he  surrounded 
himself  with  such  other  dignitaries  as  he  thought  might 
strengthen  and  adorn  his  monarchy.  When  the  kingdom 

1 Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  218-34;  Barros  Arana, 
Historia  de  America,  i.  277;  Humbert,  Les  origines  ven6zuelienn.es, 
33-6  ; Oviedo  y Banos,  Conq.  y pobl.  de  Venezuela,  lib.  lii.  cap.  8 ; 
Baralt  y Diaz,  Hist,  de  Venezuela,  i.  cap.  9. 

VOL.  I. 


F 


82  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


was  in  order,  he  entered  upon  what  he  fancied  might  be 
an  extensive  career  of  conquest.  He  made  an  attack  on 
the  town  of  Barquisimeto,  which  he  intended  should  be 
a surprise,  but  he  foimd  himself  face  to  face  with  the  in- 
habitants, assisted  by  reinforcements  from  Tocuyo.  The 
odds  were  against  him,  but  he  fought  bravely  until  he  was 
killed.  After  his  death  his  disheartened  followers  sur- 
rendered. Some  of  them  were  executed,  and  the  rest, 
remanded  to  slavery,  were  subjected  to  a regime  more 
severe  than  that  from  which  they  had  attempted  to  escape. 


Ill 

Villacinda,  succeeding  Villegas,  was  governor  of 
Venezuela  from  1554  to  1556.  In  the  middle  of  his  brief 
career  as  governor  he  founded  the  city  of  Valencia  ; and 
in  1556  Trujillo  was  founded  by  Paredes,  who  was  acting 
governor  prior  to  the  arrival  of  Pablo  Collado  in  1559. 
Of  the  cities  established  in  this  period,  Caracas  proved  to 
be  the  most  important.  The  valley  in  which  it  was  built 
was  occupied,  according  to  Spanish  estimates,  by  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Indians,  and  was  not  visited 
by  an  expedition  of  the  invaders  until  after  many  other 
parts  of  the  country  had  been  explored.  The  number  of 
the  natives,  and  their  determination  to  maintain  their 
independence,  doubtless  helped  to  make  incursions  into 
this  region  unattractive.  A conquest  was,  however, 
finally  undertaken  by  Francisco  Fajardo,  a mestizo  who 
was  born  in  the  island  of  Margarita.  His  father  was  a 
Spanish  nobleman,  and  his  mother  was  a daughter  of  one 
of  the  Indian  chiefs.  He  relied  to  a certain  extent  for 
success  in  his  undertaking  on  his  origin,  and  the  fact  that 
he  could  speak  the  language  of  the  Indians.  His  first 
reception  among  the  natives  of  his  proposed  conquest 
was  friendly  ; but  he  was  driven  out  when  they  learned 
that  he  intended  to  make  a permanent  settlement  in  their 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA  83 

territory.  The  failure  of  his  original  plan  led  him  to 
resort  to  the  use  of  force.  His  campaigns  were  in  a measure 
successful,  and,  as  a result  of  his  efforts  to  possess  the 
land,  several  towns  were  established  in  the  conquered 
region,  one  of  which  was  San  Francisco,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Caracas.  The  foundations  of  this  city 
were  finally  laid  by  Losada  in  1567  ; but  for  a decade 
after  this  event  the  Spaniards  were  in  a state  of  almost 
constant  hostility  with  the  natives,  and  sometimes  their 
ability  to  maintain  themselves  appeared  doubtful ; they 
even  formed  a plan  to  abandon  this  part  of  the  country.1 

IV 

After  the  misfortunes  that  had  attended  the  Spaniards’ 
attempts  to  form  settlements  in  the  territory  of  the 
Cumanagotos,  the  Indians  of  this  region  remained  for 
several  years  free  from  invasion  by  Europeans.  In  1576 
Juan  de  Pimental  arrived  in  Venezuela  as  the  governor 
and  captain-general  of  the  province.  He  determined  to 
reside  at  Caracas,  and  hereafter  this  town  was  regarded 
as  the  capital  of  Venezuela,  a status  previously  enjoyed 
by  Coro.  His  first  important  undertaking  was  to  subdue 
the  Cumanagotos,  who  had  resisted  earlier  attempts  to 
occupy  their  territory,  and  who  now  prevented  com- 
mercial communication  between  Caracas  and  the  island 
of  Margarita.  This  task  was  confided  to  Captain  Garcia 
Gonzalez  de  Silva,  who  set  out  from  Caracas  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty  men,  April  6,  1579.  After  a desperate 
struggle,  in  which  his  small  force  fought  against  a body  of 
Indians  estimated  to  be  three  thousand  in  number,  he 
seemed  to  have  gained  a victory,  for  the  enemy  fled  to 
the  mountains.  He  then  established  the  town,  or  pre- 
sidio, of  Espiritu  Santo.  But  in  pursuing  and  overtaking 

1 Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  232-37;  Baralt  y Diaz, 
Historia  de  Venezuela,  i.  igc-204  ; Barros  Arana,  Historia  de  America, 
i.  279. 


84  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


the  Indians,  he  found  them  allied  with  the  neighbouring 
tribes  of  Cores,  Ch&imas,  and  Chacopatas.  Against  the 
combined  forces  of  this  union,  amounting  to  ten  thousand 
men,  a decisive  victory  appeared  impossible.  Therefore, 
in  a council  of  war,  it  was  decided  to  withdraw  from  the 
campaign,  and  to  recall  the  settlers  from  the  presidio  of 
Espiritu  Santo.1 


V 

The  failure  of  Gonzalez  de  Silva  to  subjugate  the 
Indians  left  them  bolder  and  more  confident  of  their  in- 
dependence than  before  ; and  when  Luis  de  Rojas,  the 
successor  of  Pimental,  was  governor,  he  established,  in 
1584,  the  town  of  San  Juan  de  la  Paz,  on  the  river  Tuy, 
four  leagues  below  its  junction  with  the  Guaire.  This 
town  flourished  for  a time,  drawing  support  from  the  mines 
of  Apa  and  Carapa,  but  it  was  later  abandoned  on  account 
of  its  unhealthy  and  disagreeable  climate.  Sebastian  Diaz 
de  Alfaro  in  the  same  year,  1584,  founded  another  city, 
which  was  called  San  Sebastian  de  los  Reyes,  and  which 
has  been  maintained  until  the  present  time.  Rojas, 
like  many  others  who  held  authority  in  this  region,  sacri- 
ficed the  prospects  of  the  settlements  and  the  cultivation 
necessary  to  permanent  prosperity  in  pursuit  of  fruitless 
conquests.  The  campaign  undertaken  by  Christobal  de 
Cobos,  in  1585,  under  Rojas’  order,  was  less  urgent  than 
devotion  to  the  arts  of  peace  for  the  promotion  of  the  eco- 
nomical interests  of  the  colony.  It  was  directed  against 
the  Cumanagotos,  who  were  more  disposed  to  be  indepen- 
dent than  aggressive.  Cobos  took  with  him  one  hundred 
and  seventy  Spaniards  and  three  hundred  Indian  auxili- 
aries. With  the  aid  of  his  friendly  Indians,  he  constructed 
the  fort,  or  presidio,  of  Apaicuare,  which  was  fortified,  or 
surrounded  for  defence  with  a stockade  of  heavy  logs  ; 

1 Caulin,  Historia  de  la  Niteva  Andalucla,  159-67;  Baralt  y 
Diaz,  Historia  de  Venezuela,  i.  237. 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA  85 

but  this  proved  to  be  of  little  advantage,  for  the  enemy 
laid  siege  to  the  place,  and  sought  to  reduce  it  by  cut- 
ting off  the  sources  of  supply.  Cohos’  undertaking  was 
attended  by  a series  of  misfortunes,  and  finally  he  aban- 
doned his  plans  of  conquest  and  withdrew  from  the  field. 
He  returned  to  Caracas,  and  died  there  a few  days  after 
his  arrival.  Certain  later  advances  into  the  territory  of 
the  Indians  were  rather  slave-hunting  excursions  than 
military  campaigns,  and  indicated  a return  to  the  practices 
of  the  earlier  invaders  of  Venezuela.  The  various  military 
expeditions  that  were  sent  against  the  natives  were  like 
one  another  with  respect  to  their  organisation  and  pro- 
gress ; and  the  narrative  of  one  contains  the  essential 
features  of  the  story  of  all.  In  the  actual  conflicts  there 
were  usually  a few  Europeans  opposed  to  a large  number 
of  Indians  ; there  was  always  suffering  from  exposure 
and  hunger  ; and  the  European  soldiers  who  withstood 
the  hardships  of  the  campaigns  and  returned  were  often 
only  wrecks  of  what  they  had  been.1 

The  hostilities  in  the  later  phases  of  this  conflict  were 
marked  by  features  which  displayed  Indian  heroism  and 
Christian  barbarity.  For  a single  instance,  one  may  take 
the  fate  of  Tamanaco,  the  cacique  of  the  Mareches.  He 
had  fought  a good  fight  against  the  Spaniards  ; he  had 
killed  a number  of  them  with  his  war-club  in  the  battle  of 
Guaire  ; but,  at  last,  abandoned  by  his  warriors,  he  had 
been  made  a prisoner,  and,  in  1573,  was  condemned  to 
death.  Then,  moved  by  their  desire  for  a brutal  exhibi- 
tion, the  Spaniards  offered  to  grant  Tamanaco  his  life  in 
case  he  should  come  off  victorious  in  a fight  with  one  of 
their  fierce  dogs.  Tamanaco  naturally  accepted  the  pro- 
position, as  his  only  alternative  was  death,  and  his  great 
strength  seemed  to  give  him  at  least  a chance  of  surviving. 
They  enclosed  a small  space  with  a fence,  placed  Tamanaco 
in  the  centre,  and,  at  a given  signal,  let  loose  the  hideous 
dog.  The  cacique  struck  at  him  with  his  club,  but  failed 

1 Caulin,  Historia  de  la  Nueva  Andalucia,  167-75. 


86  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


to  hit  him,  and  the  infuriated  beast,  without  giving  his 
opponent  time  to  raise  his  club  for  a second  blow,  rushed 
upon  him,  threw  him  to  the  ground,  seized  him  by  the 
throat,  and  in  a few  minutes  despatched  him,  horribly 
mangled.1 

The  towns  of  this  region,  in  the  period  under  considera- 
tion, had  become  accustomed  to  the  government  of  regi- 
dores,  who  were  elected  annually,  and  who  had  the  right  to 
elect  the  alcaldes.  Practically  the  only  political  rights 
exercised  by  the  Spanish  colonists  in  America  were  those 
enjoyed  in  connection  with  the  municipalities,  and  their 
zeal  in  maintaining  these  rights  was  at  once  a reminiscence 
of  the  municipal  liberty  of  Spain,  and  an  anticipation  of  the 
spirit  that  was  to  make  all  American  states  independent. 
The  attitude  assumed  by  the  town  of  Caraballeda  was  a 
positive  expression  of  the  views  of  the  other  cities  of  the 
province.  In  1586  Governor  Rojas,  violating  the  pre- 
rogatives of  Caraballeda,  appointed  the  alcaldes  for  the 
following  year.  This  act  aroused  the  opposition  of  the 
regidores,  who  at  first  protested,  and,  when  their  verbal 
protest  was  not  effective,  threw  out  the  alcaldes  appointed 
by  the  governor,  and  elected  others  in  accordance  with 
their  custom.  The  election  did  not,  however,  close  the 
incident  ; for  the  governor  caused  the  four  regidores  to 
be  arrested  and  imprisoned  at  Caracas.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  town  resented  this  interference,  but  did  not  wish 
to  proceed  to  the  use  of  force.  They,  therefore,  abandoned 
Caraballeda,  and  took  up  their  residences  in  other  cities. 
This  they  were  able  to  do  without  great  loss,  for  the 
houses  of  the  abandoned  town,  like  most  of  the  houses  in 
Venezuela  at  the  time,  were  merely  huts  or  thatched  roofs, 
furnishing  protection  from  the  rain,  since  the  climate 
of  the  country  called  for  no  protection  from  the  cold.2 

The  intervention  of  Rojas  in  the  municipal  government 

1 Roja;',  A.,  Estudios  historicos,  38-44. 

2 Baralt  v Diaz.  Historia  de  Venezuela,  i.  251  ; Benedetti,  Hist,  de 
Colombia,  189. 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA  87 

of  Caraballeda  had  for  him,  after  it  became  known  in 
Spain,  very  important  consequences.  He  was  removed 
from  office  in  1587,  and  when  the  trial  of  residencia  was 
instituted,  there  was  no  lack  of  persons  to  bring  charges 
against  him  ; and,  as  a result  of  this  trial,  he  was  im- 
prisoned and  deprived  of  his  property,  and  the  regidores 
were  released.  The  former  inhabitants  of  the  abandoned 
town  had  no  desire  to  return  to  it  ; but  the  new  governor, 
Diego  Osorio,  recognising  the  need  of  a port  near  the 
capital,  persuaded  some  of  them  to  join  in  the  foundation 
of  La  Guaira.1 


VI 

The  barbarous  treatment  which  the  Indians  had  re- 
ceived under  the  administration  of  Rojas  induced  the 
audiencia  of  Santo  Domingo  to  send  to  Caracas  Diego  de 
Leguisamon  as  a magistrate  authorised  to  investigate  and 
bring  to  trial  such  cases  as  needed  judicial  correction. 
This  officer,  receiving  part  of  the  fines  and  other  products 
of  his  own  judgments,  carried  his  inquiries  and  prosecu- 
tions to  such  an  unreasonable  extreme  that  practically  the 
whole  population  found  itself  involved  in  his  condemna- 
tions. The  turbulence  excited  by  these  prosecutions 
caused  the  cabildo  to  fear  the  destruction  of  the  town’s 
well-being,  and  to  send  to  the  audiencia  its  protest 
against  the  excesses  of  the  judge.  As  a consequence  of 
this  action  of  the  cabildo,  the  audiencia  ordered  that  the 
judge  should  be  superseded  and  made  to  disgorge  his 
spoils.2 

To  allay  the  internal  commotion  caused  by  the  con- 
duct of  Leguisamon  was  the  first  task  that  required  the 
attention  of  Governor  Osorio.  He  had  to  harmonise  con- 
flicting private  interests,  and  to  re-establish  the  authority 
and  prestige  of  the  government.  With  the  increase  of  the 


1 Baralt  y Diaz,  Historia  de  Venezuela,  i.  251. 


2 Ibid.,  252. 


88  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


population  the  relation  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  Indians 
had  not  improved.  The  laws  designed  to  protect  them 
were  not  executed  ; and  little  or  no  heed  was  paid  to  the 
decrees  and  royal  orders  which  imposed  upon  the 
Spaniards  the  obligation  to  give  them  religious  instruc- 
tion. In  order  that  Osorio  might  be  clothed  with  more 
extensive  power,  Simon  Bolivar  was  commissioned,  in 
1589,  to  go  to  Spain  and  obtain  from  the  king  the  required 
enlargement  of  the  governor’s  authority.  After  Bolivar’s 
return  in  1592,  the  governor  undertook  the  proposed  re- 
forms. He  distributed  lands  in  accordance  with  the 
regulations  providing  for  the  system  of  encomiendas  ; 
determined  the  municipal  lands  and  revenues  ; founded 
the  archives  ; formed  municipal  ordinances  ; and  under- 
took to  carry  out  the  requirement  that  the  Indians  should 
live  in  towns.  There  was  a certain  unoccupied  territory 
south-west  of  Tocuyo  and  Barquisimeto,  towards  the  fron- 
tier of  Granada,  and,  in  order  that  this  might  be  held  by 
Venezuela,  Governor  Osorio  commissioned  Juan  Fernandez 
de  Leon  to  enter  that  region  and  found  a city,  or  presidio, 
at  some  suitable  site  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  cordillera. 
Under  this  commission  the  town  of  Guanare  was  founded 
in  1593.  A part  of  Osorio’s  proposed  reform  was  to  make 
membership  in  the  cabildos  purchasable  and  perpetual, 
thus  participating  in  a movement  that  attained  this  end 
more  or  less  completely  in  different  parts  of  Spanish 
America. 

To  the  last  decade  of  the  sixteenth  century  belong  the 
beginnings  of  public  instruction  at  Caracas.  On  the  sug- 
gestion of  Bolivar,  the  king  sent  to  Juan  Martinez  Man- 
zanillo, the  Bishop  of  Caracas,  a decree,  dated  June  22, 
1592,  in  which  he  ordered  the  establishment  of  a school, 
which  became  the  Seminar io  Tridentino.  He  required, 
moreover,  that  in  considering  candidates  for  stipends, 
or  for  membership  in  the  college,  “ care  should  be  taken 
to  prefer  to  all  others  the  descendants  of  the  first  con- 
querors and  the  sons  of  those  who  had  served  the  crown 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA  89 

of  Spain  with  the  greatest  devotion.”  This  was  a modest 
beginning,  but,  in  a rude  village  such  as  Caracas  was  then, 
there  was  probably  no  demand  for  instruction  that  could 
not  be  met  by  this  primitive  institution.1 

But  the  peaceful  growth  of  Caracas  was  temporarily 
interrupted  in  1595,  while  Governor  Osorio  was  at  Mara- 
caibo, by  an  assault  of  English  pirates,  May  29,  1595.  In 
advancing  from  the  coast  they  evaded  the  troops  that 
had  been  sent  out  against  them,  and  were  thus  able  to 
take  and  sack  the  city  without  resistance.  They  occupied 
the  town  for  six  days,  but  they  were  not  able  to  obtain  a 


1 Humbert,  Les  origines  venSzudliennes,  63  ; Bolivar,  who  bore  the 
title  of  Contador  de  la  Real  Hacienda  de  Venezuela,  and  also  that  of 
Regidoy,  was  the  first  of  the  Liberator’s  ancestors  to  appear  in  America. 
The  line  of  descent  appears  in  the  following  table  : 


Simon  de  = Captain-General  = Doha  Ana 

Bolivar.  | Juan  de  Villegas.  I Pacheco. 


Simon  ; 
de  Bolivar 
el  Joven. 


Beatriz 
de  Roxas. 


Antonio  = Leonor  i 
de  Bolivar.  de  Rebolledo. 


Lorenzo-Martinez  = 
de  Villegas. 


Juan  de  = Luisa 
Villegas.  I de  Villela. 


Don  Lorenzo  = Dona  Magdalen 
de  Villegas.  Ladron 

de  Guevara. 


Don  Luis  = Dona  Maria 
de  Bolivar.  I de  Villegas. 


Col.  Juan  de  Bolivar  = Maria  Petronila 
y Villegas.  I de  Ponte. 


Col.  Juan  Vicente  = Maria  Concepcion 
de  Bolivar.  Palacios  y Sojo. 


Simon  Bolivar, 
the  Liberator. 


90  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

ransom,  and  returned  to  the  coast,  reaching  their  ships  on 
June  4.1 

VII 

The  principal  feature  of  Venezuela’s  progress  in  the 
half-century  following  the  period  of  the  Welser  adminis- 
tration, was  utilising  the  agricultural  resources  of  the 
country.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil  about  Caracas  was 
especially  flourishing.  Among  the  products  were  wheat, 
barley,  sugar-cane,  indigo,  food  vegetables  of  all  kinds, 
figs,  pomegranates,  grapes,  quinces,  and  tobacco.  During 
this  period  the  herds  increased  rapidly,  furnishing  an  abun- 
dance of  flesh  for  food,  and  hides  and  tallow  for  exporta- 
tion. Flour  was  also  conspicuous  among  the  exports, 
and  was  sent  to  Cartagena.  The  number  of  manufactories 
that  had  come  into  existence  in  the  sixteenth  century  was 
very  limited.  Sugar-mills  were,  however,  made  necessary 
by  the  cultivation  of  cane  ; and,  just  at  the  end  of  the 
century,  the  first  plant  for  making  soap  was  established. 

The  town  of  Caracas  contained  about  fifteen  hundred 
inhabitants,  and  consisted  of  two  parallel  streets  running 
north  and  south.  Two  sharply  defined  classes  had  already 
become  recognised.  An  aristocracy  had  been  created  by 
royal  order.  To  encourage  the  union  of  the  two  races, 
the  daughters  of  the  caciques  had  been  ennobled,  and 
Spaniards  without  rank  who  married  them  acquired  by 
this  means  the  privileges  of  nobility.  The  nobles  having 
ancient  Spanish  titles  who  joined  the  colony  naturally 
felt  themselves  superior  to  the  new  colonial  nobility,  but 
the  new  nobles  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  claimed  by  their 
distinguished  rivals.  Between  the  two  classes,  however, 
there  existed  persistent  rivalry  and  jealousy,  which  con- 

1 Southey,  Chronological  Ilislory  of  the  West  Indies,  i.  220 ; Kingsley, 
Westward  Ho ! ; Humbert,  Les  origines  vinizu&liennes,  65.  This 
assault  is  sometimes  attributed  to  Sir  Francis  Drake ; see  Oviedo 
y Banos,  lib.  vii.  cap.  x. ; Baralt  y Diaz,  i.  254-57.  But  at  the 
time  Captain  Preston  made  the  assault  Drake  was  in  England,  and  did 
Dot  arrive  at  Marie  Galante  until  October  28,  1595. 


PROGRESS  OF  VENEZUELA 


9 1 


stituted  a feature  of  the  society  of  Venezuela.  The  antago- 
nism which  existed  between  these  classes  was  a phase  of 
the  conflict  which  marked  the  relations  of  the  Spaniards 
to  the  creoles  throughout  Spain’s  American  possessions 
during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  ; and 
one  must  take  note  of  it  if  he  would  understand  the  great 
revolution  which  overthrew  the  dominion  of  Spain  on  the 
continent  of  America.1 

It  is  difficult  for  one  under  the  stress  of  life  in  the  most 
active  nations  of  these  later  days  to  form  an  accurate  con- 
ception of  the  sluggish  existence  of  the  towns  of  Venezuela 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Before  noon  there 
appeared  in  the  streets  only  the  comparatively  few  men 
whose  affairs  called  them  to  their  offices,  a number  of  the 
more  pious  women  on  their  way  to  mass,  and  slaves 
sent  to  make  the  daily  purchases  of  provisions  for  the 
families.  Between  the  hour  of  the  midday  dinner  and 
half-past  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  the  streets  were 
deserted,  all  shops  were  closed,  and  the  town  was  in  a 
state  of  completely-suspended  animation.  But  at  half- 
past three  or  four  o’clock  there  was  a general  awakening, 
and  a little  later  all  the  world  was  abroad,  the  brilliant 
costumes  of  the  women,  crowned  by  the  graceful  Castillian 
mantilla,  making  a lively  scene  on  the  plaza  or  the  street 
which  fashion  had  designated  for  the  promenade.  Men 
of  distinction  wore  the  long  Spanish  capa,  while  men  of 
less  pretensions  wore  the  capote,  a loose  coat  with  sleeves, 
but  without  a hood.  The  capa  and  the  capote  were  to 
such  an  extent  indications  of  rank  that  they  were  often 
worn  when  not  needed  for  warmth.  Besides  the  daily 
promenade  and  the  evening  reunions,  or  tertulias,  even 
Caracas,  the  capital,  presented  few  means  of  social  diver- 
sion. There  was  no  theatre,  and  the  senses  to  which  that 
institution  might  have  appealed  had  in  a large  measure 
to  be  satisfied  by  the  brilliant  spectacles  and  exercises  of 
the  church.  The  music  of  the  mass,  the  procession,  with 

1 Humbert,  Les  origines  venezueliennes,  67-70. 


92  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

its  gorgeously-dressed  images  and  the  long  line  of  lights, 
interested  many  persons  who  saw  nothing  in  these  things  but 
the  outward  show.  Those  persons  whose  minds  sought  to 
penetrate  beyond  the  visible  and  the  real  soon  found  them- 
selves involved  in  the  intricacies  of  ecclesiastical  mythology. 

The  church  offered  not  only  a means  of  diversion,  but 
it  presented  also  a remedy  for  many  of  the  evils  that  af- 
flicted the  society  of  Venezuela.  When  the  locusts  de- 
voured the  products  of  the  cultivated  fields  about  Caracas 
in  1574,  the  inhabitants  appealed  to  Saint  Maurice.  In 
1580  the  city  was  ravaged  by  smallpox,  and  the  ayunta- 
miento  decided  to  build  a church  in  honour  of  Saint  Paul 
the  Hermit.  This  pagan  simplicity  is  manifest  also  in 
the  tale  of  the  Virgin  of  Capacabana,  according  to  which 
an  Indian  walking  on  a street  in  Caracas  took  off  his  hat 
and  saw  a small  coin  fall  before  him.  He  picked  it  up, 
and  ran  to  the  nearest  grog-shop,  and  bought  a drink  of 
spirits.  A little  later,  while  sitting  at  a street  corner,  he 
again  removed  his  hat,  when  he  saw  a second  similar  half- 
real  fall  to  the  ground.  He  picked  up  this  one,  and  spent 
it  as  he  had  spent  the  other.  When  he  saw  a third  coin 
of  the  same  kind  fall  under  similar  circumstances,  he  took 
it  up  and  found  on  it  an  image  of  the  Virgin.  This  one 
he  hung  about  his  neck,  and  when  a little  later  he  had  been 
sentenced  to  capital  punishment  for  a crime  which  he  had 
committed,  the  executioner  found  that  the  rope  broke  as 
soon  as  it  was  put  round  the  criminal’s  neck.  Another 
and  a stronger  rope  had  the  same  fate,  when  the  Indian 
declared  that  this  miracle  was  due  to  the  protection  of 
the  Virgin  of  Capacabana.  He  then  removed  the  coin 
which  he  had  hung  about  his  neck,  and  asked  that  it  might 
be  taken  to  the  church  of  Saint  Paul.  After  the  criminal 
had  taken  off  the  wonder-working  coin,  the  hangman  had 
no  difficulty  in  executing  him.  The  hero  of  this  tale 
appears  not  to  have  been  a wise  Indian,  since,  having  the 
Virgin  clearly  on  his  side,  he  threw  off  her  protection  with- 
out any  adequate  excuse. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU  AND  THE  OVERTHROW 
OF  THE  INCAS 

I.  Pizarro’s  agreement  with  Almargo  and  Luque.  II.  The  invasion  of 
Peru.  III.  Benalcazar’s  campaign  to  Quito. 

I 

During  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  while 
Spanish  explorers  were  making  known  to  Europeans  the 
northern  part  of  South  America — Venezuela,  New  Granada, 
and  the  Isthmus— and  Spanish  colonists  were  introducing 
certain  features  of  European  civilisation,  other  parts  of 
the  continent — Peru,  Chile,  and  Rio  de  la  Plata — were  sub- 
ject to  a similar  process.  The  brief  form  of  the  narrative 
by  which  these  events  are  usually  presented  often  makes 
it  difficult  to  appreciate  the  element  of  time  in  the  story. 
We  turn  from  one  event  to  another  almost  as  if  they 
followed  one  another  with  the  years  ; yet  from  Vasco 
Nunez’s  discovery  of  the  Pacific  to  the  occupation  of 
Venezuela  by  the  Welser  company  there  was  a period  of 
fifteen  years  ; to  the  conquest  of  Peru  a period  of  eighteen 
years  ; to  the  foundation  of  Bogota  a period  of  twenty- 
five  years  ; and  to  the  foundation  of  Caracas  a period  of 
more  than  fifty  years.  In  these  intervals  the  colonists 
had  time  to  introduce  various  forms  of  production.  They 
bred  useful  animals,  particularly  cows  and  horses,  and 
raised  certain  kinds  of  grain  and  other  agricultural  pro- 
ducts for  food.  In  many  places  they  took  advantage  of 
the  cultivation  carried  on  by  the  Indians.  In  this  way, 

93 


94  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

with  respect  to  their  support,  they  became  more  and  more 
emancipated  from  the  mother-country,  and  thus  able  to 
maintain  themselves  by  their  own  resources.  The  local 
resources  also  contributed  to  the  supplies  required  in 
fitting  out  expeditions  for  exploration  or  conquest.  The 
progress  of  eighteen  years  at  Panama  had  greatly  facili- 
tated the  undertaking  of  Pizarro  with  reference  to  his 
proposed  occupation  of  Peru. 

Pizarro’s  agreement  with  Almagro  and  Luque  seemed 
to  offer  him  the  means  needed  to  reach  the  rich  kingdom 
which  the  Indians  affirmed  existed  in  the  south.  Pizarro 
and  Almagro  had  already  made  separate  voyages  along 
the  southern  coast,  but  they  had  not  found  the  coveted 
kingdom,  nor  acquired  the  riches  which  they  expected. 
Yet  during  these  voyages  the  rumours  became  more  defi- 
nite, and  confirmed  their  belief  in  the  existence  of  a land 
of  abundant  wealth. 

In  this  agreement  Luque  promised  to  advance  the 
funds  for  the  undertaking,  while  Almagro  and  Pizarro 
pledged  themselves  to  carry  out  the  plan  of  conquest. 
The  conquered  territory,  the  repartimientos,  the  treasures 
of  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  and  the  spoils  of  every 
kind  were  to  be  divided  equally  among  the  three  partners. 
Even  one-third  of  all  revenues  derived  from  grants  which 
the  crown  might  make  to  either  Pizarro  or  Almagro  should 
be  enjoyed  by  Luque,  and  might  be  transmitted  by  him  to 
his  heirs  or  legal  representatives.  The  risk  in  the  enter- 
prise was  borne  by  the  two  military  leaders,  who  agreed, 
in  case  of  failure,  to  reimburse  Luque  for  his  advances, 
and,  for  this  purpose,  pledged  whatever  property  they 
might  possess.  They  agreed,  moreover,  to  allow  the 
contract  to  have  the  force  of  a judgment  issued  against 
them  by  a court  of  justice.  The  contract  was  sub- 
scribed by  Luque  on  March  io,  1526.  It  was  duly 
attested  by  witnesses,  and,  although  constituting  the 
basis  of  a gigantic  scheme  of  spoliation,  it  was  pervaded 
by  a distinctly  religious  tone,  and  was  solemnly  sworn 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU 


95 

to  and  acknowledged  “ in  the  name  of  God  and  the  Holy 
Evangelists.”  1 

Pedrarias  had  promised  to  contribute  to  the  expenses 
of  the  proposed  undertaking,  but  he  not  only  made  no 
payments,  but  even  demanded  from  Almagro,  when  re- 
quested to  pay,  four  thousand  pesos,  and  finally  agreed  to 
take  one  thousand,  as  compensation  for  relinquishing  his 
claims  to  share  in  the  profits  of  the  expedition.2 

In  this  transaction  Luque  was  only  the  agent  of  Gaspar 
de  Espinosa,  who  had  had  an  important  part  in  the  con- 
quest and  settlement  of  Tierra  Firme,  and  had  held  the 
office  of  alcalde  in  Darien.  To  him,  therefore,  and  not  to 
Luque,  was  due  the  stipulated  one-third  part  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  projected  conquest.  The  first  expedition  3 
made  under  this  contract  verified  the  rumours  concerning 
the  abundance  of  gold  that  might  be  found  in  Peru  ; but 
the  leaders  thought  themselves  too  weak  to  undertake  the 
conquest,  and  returned  to  Panama  without  the  expected 
profits  for  Luque’s  investment.  The  difficulty  encoun- 
tered in  getting  funds  for  a subsequent  expedition  might 
be  regarded  as  evidence  that  the  captains  did  not  make 
good  to  Luque  the  loss  by  the  first  voyage  under  the  con- 

1 For  the  text  of  this  contract,  see  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima, 
iii.  131  ; Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru  (London,  1847),  ii.  443-6  ; Men- 
diburu,  Diccionario  hist6rico-biogrdfico  del  Peru  (1874-90),  iii.  366-9  ; 
Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xix.  489. 

2 Oviedo,  in  his  Historia  general  de  las  Indias,  parte  ii.  cap.  xxiii., 
says,  “ I was  one  of  the  witnesses  who  signed  this  instrument,  in  which 
Pedrarias  released  and  assigned  over  all  his  interest  in  Peru  to  Almagro 
and  his  associates — by  this  act  deserting  the  enterprise,  and,  by  his 
littleness  of  soul,  forfeiting  the  rich  treasures  which  it  is  well  known 
he  might  have  acquired  from  the  golden  empire  of  the  Incas.”  A 
translation  of  the  account  of  Almagro’s  interview  with  Pedrarias  on 
this  subject  is  given  in  Appendix  No.  5 of  Prescott’s  Conquest  of 
Peru,  ii.  441-3.  See  also  Andagoya’s  Narrative,  43  ; Bib.  de  Aut. 
Esp.,  xix.  491. 

3 For  a general  account  of  this  expedition,  one  may  refer  to  Lorente, 
Conquista  del  Peru  (Lima,  1861),  31-44;  and  in  the  third  chapter  of 
the  first  book  of  that  work,  pp.  60-75,  the  author  gives  a vivid  account 
of  the  experiences  of  Pizarro  and  his  men  on  the  coast  of  Peru  prior  to 
the  invasion. 


96  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

tract.  Fifteen  hundred  ducats  were,  however,  raised  to 
enable  Pizarro  to  go  to  Spain,  and  appeal  directly  to  the 
king  for  aid. 

Pizarro  left  Panama  for  Spain  in  the  spring  of  1528. 
Neither  his  history  nor  his  character  was  such  as  to  suggest 
the  typical  Spanish  courtier,  yet  his  appearance  before 
the  king,  the  story  of  his  exploits  and  privations,  and  the 
zeal  which  he  had  displayed  in  the  cause  of  the  crown  made 
a deep  impression.  Nevertheless,  there  were  months  of 
waiting,  during  which  Pizarro  saw  his  funds  gradually  dis- 
appear, and  with  them  the  hope  of  being  able  to  carry  out 
his  plans.  Finally,  on  July  26,  1529,  was  issued  the 
Capitulation,1  which  granted  to  Pizarro  the  powers  and 
privileges  he  enjoyed  in  carrying  on  the  conquest  of  Peru. 
In  accordance  with  this  decree,  Pizarro  and  his  associates 
were  permitted  to  continue  their  conquests  at  their  own 
expense  ; and  to  Pizarro,  moreover,  was  granted  territory 
extending  from  the  river  Santiago  two  hundred  leagues 
southward.  Pizarro  was  made  governor  and  captain- 
general  for  life.  Out  of  his  salary,  which  was  to  be  paid 
from  the  king’s  revenues  derived  from  the  lands  in  ques- 
tion, he  was  required  to  pay  an  annual  compensation  to 
an  alcalde,  ten  squires,  thirty  peons,  a physician,  and  an 
apothecary.  He  was  given  also  the  title  of  adelantado  and 
alguacil-mayor  of  the  province  of  Peru.  In  agreement 
with  the  royal  officers  of  the  province,  he  was  permitted 
to  construct  and  maintain  four  fortresses  in  such  places 
as  he  might  find  convenient.  He  was  permitted  also  to 
distribute  the  Indians  among  his  followers  under  the  law 
of  encomiendas,  and  control  the  affairs  of  his  province 
with  that  practically  absolute  authority  implied  in  his 
title  of  captain-general.  Pedro  de  Candia,  who  had  accom- 

1 This  document  was  dated  at  Toledo,  and  its  title  was  “ Capitu- 
lacidn  que  se  tom6  con  el  Capitan  Francisco  Pizarro  para  la  conquista 
de  Tumbez,  Doc.  in6d.,  271-85  ; Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  Appen- 
dix II,  447-53;  Mendiburu,  iii.  370-6;  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xix.  491. 
For  decree  granting  Francisco  Pizarro  a coat  of  arms,  see  Doc.  inid., 
xlii.  38. 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU 


97 


panied  Pizarro  to  Spain,  was  appointed  captain  of  artillery. 
Diego  de  Almagro  was  made  commandant  of  the  fortress 
at  Tumbez,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a nobleman,  and  given  all  the  honours  and  privileges 
which  that  title  conveyed. 

Father  Luque  was  made  Bishop  of  Tumbez,  and  pro- 
tector of  the  Indians  of  Peru.  Bartolome  Ruiz  was 
granted  the  position  of  grand  pilot  of  the  South  Sea,  with 
compensation  to  be  paid,  like  all  the  salaries  granted 
through  this  instrument,  from  the  proceeds  of  the  lands 
conquered.  Other  companions  of  Pizarro  were  given 
either  minor  offices  or  titles  of  distinction.  In  order  to 
increase  the  population  of  the  province,  certain  restrictions 
on  emigration  were  removed,  and  the  ordinary  laws  of 
taxation  were  relaxed  in  favour  of  the  settlers.  The  tax 
on  the  precious  : metals  was  reduced  to  one-tenth  for  a 
term  of  six  years.  It  was  provided  that  at  the  expiration 
of  this  period  the  tax  of  one-tenth  should  be  changed  to 
one-ninth,  and  thus  increased  year  by  year  by  one  point 
till  it  should  again  reach  one-fifth. 

This  concession  imposed  upon  Pizarro  certain  obliga- 
tions. He  was  required  to  leave  Spain  within  six  months 
after  the  date  of  the  Capitulation,  and  to  leave  the  Isthmus 
within  six  months  after  his  arrival  there.  He  was  required 
to  raise  a force  of  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  men. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  might  be  taken  from  Spain 
and  other  places  where  enlistment  was  not  prohibited,  and 
the  rest  might  be  raised  in  America.  Besides  soldiers,  he 
was  obliged  to  take  with  him  certain  royal  officials,  and 
such  a number  of  ecclesiastics  as  might  be  needed  to  effect 
the  conversion  of  the  Indians.  He  might  receive  from 
the  crown  pecuniary  assistance,  especially  for  the  purchase 
of  artillery  ; also  a number  of  horses,  and  permission  to 
take  at  Panama,  in  agreement  with  the  owners,  such  ships 
as  he  might  need,  this  authorisation  giving  him  a prior 
claim  to  the  ships  over  other  persons  who  might  demand 
them  for  the  transportation  of  goods.  Not  only  were  the 

VOL.  i,  G 


98  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Indians  subjected  to  encomenderos,  but  Pizarro  was  also 
authorised  to  introduce  fifty  slaves  free  of  duty,  under  the 
provision  that  not  less  than  a third  of  them  should  be 
women. 

On  Pizarro’s  arrival  from  Spain,  Almagro  and  Luque 
met  him  on  the  Isthmus.  Luque  was  apparently  satisfied 
with  his  position  as  Bishop  of  Tumbez,  but  Almagro  gave 
emphatic  expression  to  the  humiliation  which  he  had 
suffered  by  the  action  of  the  king  in  conferring  upon 
Pizarro  alone  the  control  of  the  undertaking.  Pizarro, 
in  explanation,  affirmed  that,  in  spite  of  his  advocacy,  the 
Council  of  the  Indies  refused  to  divide  the  supreme  power 
between  two  persons.  Almagro,  moreover,  looked  with 
little  favour  on  the  presence  of  Pizarro’s  brothers,  and  saw 
in  their  coming  an  obstacle  to  his  advancement. 

These  brothers  were  Juan,  Gonzalo,  and  Hernando. 
Juan  and  Gonzalo,  like  Francisco,  were  illegitimate  sons 
of  Colonel  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  who  had  figured  in  the  Italian 
wars.  Of  the  four  brothers,  Hernando  alone  was  legitimate. 
Juan  was  involved  almost  continually  in  military  service 
against  the  Indians  while  in  Peru,  and  left  the  reputation 
of  being  the  bravest  and  most  gallant  soldier  of  the  family. 
Gonzalo  is  particularly  noted  as  the  leader  of  the  revolt 
that  was  ended  by  the  intervention  of  Pedro  de  la  Gasca. 
He  was  executed  in  1548.  Hernando,  as  the  only  one  of 
the  four  who  was  not  a bastard,  made  it  manifest  in  his 
conduct  that  he  felt  jthe  superiority  of  his  position.  He 
was,  borrowing  the  judgment  of  Mendiburu,  “ proud,  false, 
and  cruel.”  The  fears  which  Almagro  had  entertained 
respecting  the  influence  which  the  arrival  of  these  brothers 
would  exert  on  his  fortunes  seemed  to  be  confirmed  by 
the  scornful  treatment  which  he  received  from  them  when 
he  and  Luque  appeared  at  Nombre  de  Dios  to  welcome 
their  associate  returning  from  Spain.1 

1 Lorente,  Conquista  del  Peru,  75-133;  Mendiburu,  vi.  506-11; 
Barros  Arana,  Historici  de  America,  i.  282-9;  Prescott,  Conquest  of 
Peru,  i.  289. 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU 


99 


II 

The  expedition  for  the  conquest  of  Peru  left  Panama  in 
January  1531.  The  history  of  this  voyage,  the  landing 
at  Tumbez,  the  advance  with  a part  of  the  force  into  the 
interior,  and  the  events  associated  with  the  tragic  end  of 
Atahualpa,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Inca’s  rule,  have, 
with  justice,  been  made  especially  conspicuous,  since  they 
represent  the  most  noteworthy  crisis  in  the  process  of 
establishing  Spanish  rule  in  America.  The  brilliant  narra- 
tive of  Prescott,  in  his  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  has 
made  this  episode  more  widely  known  than  any  other 
group  of  events  in  the  history  of  South  America.  The 
invaders  began  at  once  to  frame  the  institutions  of  a civi- 
lised society.  The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  the 
foundation  of  the  municipality  of  San  Miguel  in  the  valley 
of  Tangarara,  about  one  hundred  miles  south  of  Tumbez. 
The  men  left  at  Tumbez  were  ordered  to  take  up  their  resi- 
dence at  the  new  site  ; buildings  were  constructed  from 
the  timber  of  the  forests  and  stone  from  the  adjacent 
quarries ; and  a municipal  government  was  organised 
in  the  form  prescribed  by  law,  consisting  of  regidores, 
alcaldes,  and  such  other  civil  officers  as  were  found  to  be 
necessary.  To  each  settler  was  allotted  a portion  of  the 
surrounding  lands,  and  a certain  number  of  Indians  who 
might  be  required  to  cultivate  these  lands.1 

The  natives  were  placed  under  the  control  of  the 
settlers,  because  it  was  assumed  that  without  their  ser- 

1 In  1872  the  Hakluyt  Society,  in  its  forty-seventh  volume,  pub- 
lished translations  of  a number  of  important  documents  relating  to 
Pizarro’s  conquest.  These  are:  i.  Report  of  Francisco  de  Xeres  ; 

2.  Report  of  Miguel  de  Astete  on  the  Expedition  to  Pachacamac  ; 

3.  Letter  of  Hernando  Pizarro  to  the  Royal  Audiencia  of  Santo 
Domingo  ; 4.  Report  of  Pedro  Sancho  on  the  partition  of  the  ransom 
of  Atahualpa.  The  last  document  gives  the  names  of  the  persons 
who  shared  in  the  distribution  and  the  number  of  marks  of  silver 
and  the  number  of  pesos  of  gold  which  each  received.  See  also  Zarate, 
Historia  del  Peru,  in  Bib,  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xxvi.  474-80, 


ioo  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


vices  the  settlers  would  not  be  able  to  support  themselves  ; 
and,  moreover,  the  ecclesiastics  and  the  leaders  of  the 
expedition  agreed  that  if  the  Indians  were  distributed 
among  the  Christians,  the  cause  of  religion  would  thereby 
be  advanced.  The  argument  that  by  being  subjected  to 
the  Spaniards  the  natives  would  have  an  opportunity  of 
acquiring  the  true  faith,  was  often  used  later  to  justify  the 
system  of  encomiendas.  The  site  originally  selected  was 
found  to  be  unhealthy,  and  the  town  was  moved  to  the 
bank  of  the  Piura,  where  it  stands  at  present,  the  oldest 
town  in  Peru  founded  by  Europeans. 

The  march  to  Cajamarca,  begun  September  24,  1532, 
lasted  two  months.  The  company  moved  slowly  because 
of  the  necessity  of  carefully  reconnoitring  the  country  in 
order  to  avoid  falling  into  a position  from  which  they  could 
not  readily  escape.  After  they  left  the  sandy  coast,  and 
approached  the  Andes,  they  came  into  a region  which  pre- 
sented phases  of  a social  life  different  from  any  they  had 
seen  elsewhere  in  America.  There  were  evidences  of  an 
effective  political  organisation.  There  was  an  elaborate 
system  of  irrigation  ; the  fields  were  carefully  irrigated 
and  cultivated  ; and  there  were  facilities  for  transporta- 
tion. When,  finally,  Pizarro  and  his  little  company  had 
come  into  the  presence  of  the  multitude  of  Atahualpa’s 
men,  there  appeared  to  him  no  course  of  safety,  except 
such  as  would  lead  directly  to  the  capture  of  the  leader. 
Then  followed  the  assault,  the  imprisonment  of  Atahualpa, 
the  extraordinary  ransom,  the  breach  of  faith,  and  the 
murder  of  the  Inca.1 

The  power  of  the  Inca  kingdom  was  to  such  an  extent 
centralised  in  the  person  of  the  ruler,  that  the  fall  of  this 

1 Lorente,  Conquista  del  Peru,  lib.  i.  and  ii.  Documents  relating 
to  the  ransom  of  Atahualpa,  its  distribution,  and  the  disposition  of 
the  king’s  fifth  are  given  in  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  iii. 
121-30  ; Mendiburu,  iii.  377-83  ; Oviedo,  Historia  general  de  las  Indias, 
lib.  xlvi.  caps,  xv.,  xxii. ; Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  ii.  455  ; Bib.  de 
Aut.  Esp.,  xix.  499-501. 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU  ioi 

single  support  was  necessarily  followed  by  the  collapse  of 
the  whole  political  structure.  The  ambition  of  local 
factions  became  manifest.  Cuzco  wished  to  shake  off 
the  yoke  of  Quito.  Provinces  that  only  a short  time  before 
had  been  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  Inca’s  power,  were 
now  moved  to  assert  and  maintain  their  independence. 
The  removal  of  the  person  whose  decrees  were  obeyed  in 
superstitious  reverence  for  the  law-giver,  destroyed  the 
motive  for  obedience,  and  made  anarchy  practically  in- 
evitable. Instead  of  the  individual  conscience  imposing 
duty,  there  had  existed  only  the  commands  of  a deified 
chief,  and  his  destruction  appears  to  have  eliminated  the 
motive  to  right  action.  Excesses  and  crimes  now  became 
frequent,  where  before  they  had  been  almost  entirely  un- 
known. In  the  state  of  social  dissolution  which  followed 
the  overthrow  of  the  Inca’s  rule,  it  was  natural  that  an 
opinion  in  favour  of  alliance  with  the  invaders  should 
arise  in  certain  quarters  ; for  even  if  their  acts  had  been 
cruel,  they  had  manifested  a force  hitherto  unknown  in 
the  land,  and  the  exercise  of  this  force  might  prevent 
the  appearance  of  still  greater  evils. 

Pizarro  wisely  took  advantage  of  this  state  of  things 
to  form  friendly  relations  with  some  of  the  natives.  He 
furthered  the  election  of  Toparpa,  a son  of  Atahualpa,  to 
succeed  as  Inca  the  executed  chief,  and  in  this  way  sought 
to  avert  the  possibility  of  defeat  through  a comprehensive 
union  against  him.  Toparpa  died  shortly  after  his  election, 
but  the  relation  effected  by  his  election  between  the 
Indians  and  the  Spaniards  helped  to  smooth  the  way  for 
Pizarro.  After  a residence  of  seven  months  in  Cajamarca, 
Pizarro  entered  upon  the  march  to  Cuzco,  with  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty  men.  During  this  journey,  which  lasted 
some  months,  he  organised,  in  1533,  the  municipality  of 
Jauja,  where  he  remained  about  twenty  days.  He  then 
passed  on  towards  Cuzco,  and,  after  two  or  three  encoun- 
ters with  the  Indians,  entered  and  took  possession  of  the 


102  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


city.  Many  of  the  residents  fled  from  the  town  before  the 
invading  soldiery,  who  turned  at  once  to  plundering  the 
temples  and  other  places  where  gold  could  be  found. 
Pizarro  ordered  all  these  spoils  to  be  brought  together,  and 
caused  them  to  be  distributed  among  his  followers.1 

The  municipal  government  organised  in  Cuzco  was 
composed  of  two  alcaldes  and  eight  regidores.  Among 
the  latter  were  Gonzalo  and  Juan  Pizarro,  brothers  of  the 
captain-general.  The  oath  of  office  was  administered  to 
the  members  of  the  new  government  on  March  24,  1534, 
Spaniards  were  invited  to  become  residents  of  Cuzco,  and 
Pizarro,  as  governor  of  Peru,  offered  them  certain  houses 
and  lands  which  had  come  into  his  possession  as  a result 
of  the  conquest.  Pizarro  also  laid  the  foundations  of  an 
ecclesiastical  organisation,  and  Father  Valverde  was  made 
Bishop  of  Cuzco.  One  side  of  the  plaza  was  selected  as  a 
site  for  the  cathedral,  and  monasteries  rose  in  the  place  of 
edifices  formerly  devoted  to  the  Indian  worship,  and  the 
ecclesiastics  who  came  with  Pizarro,  and  those  who  came 
as  later  reinforcements,  carried  on  with  zeal  the  work  of 
converting  the  Indians,  and,  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
missionaries,  with  a disinterested  devotion  to  their  spiritual 
welfare. 


Ill 

Pizarro  recognised  the  importance  of  the  colony  of 
San  Miguel,  since  it  commanded  the  entrance  to  that  part 
of  Peru  which  he  had  occupied  ; and  he  appointed  Sebas- 
tian de  Benalcazar  to  be  its  governor.  Benalcazar’s 
knowledge  that  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  governor  of  Guatemala, 

1 Mcndiburu,  vi.  438-42  ; Lorentc,  Conquisla  del  Peril,  210-28, 
deals  with  this  episode  in  his  characteristic  manner,  making  use  of  a 
somewhat  vivid  imagination.  Mcndiburu  corrects  Prescott’s  state- 
ment concerning  the  successor  of  Atahualpa,  affirming  that  by  treat- 
ing with  the  nobles  and  military  leaders  Pizarro  caused  the  son  of 
Atahualpa  to  be  recognised  as  king  with  the  usual  demonstrations. 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU 


103 

was  preparing  to  take  possession  of  Quito,  which  was  sup- 
posed to  contain  large  quantities  of  the  precious  metals, 
induced  him  to  prepare  an  expedition  on  his  own  account 
to  occupy  this  northern  capital  of  the  Incas.  His  position 
as  governor  of  San  Miguel  gave  him  an  opportunity  to 
obtain  men,  and  to  make  the  other  necessary  provision 
for  the  undertaking  ; for  the  reports  that  had  already 
gone  abroad  concerning  the  wealth  of  this  part  of  the  world 
had  awakened  a spirit  of  adventure  everywhere,  and  men 
with  horses  and  equipment  from  Panama  and  Nicaragua 
hastened  to  San  Miguel  as  soon  as  they  learned  of  Benal- 
cazar’s plans.  The  governor  was  therefore  able,  in  October 
1533,  t°  enter  upon  his  campaign.  He  had  appointed 
Juan  de  Ampudia,  a semi -savage,  as  his  lieutenant- 
general,  who,  besides  the  governor,  was  the  only  person 
with  military  training  in  the  company.  The  number  of 
men  in  Benalcazar’s  little  army  was  about  two  hundred 
and  eighty. 

At  this  time  Ruminahui  held  the  supreme  power  in 
Quito.  He  had  been  one  of  the  Inca’s  chief  officers, 
and  when  Atahualpa  was  murdered,  he  made  himself 
recognised  as  the  supreme  ruler  of  this  region.  He  had 
usurped  this  authority  with  such  acts  of  cruelty  as  to 
alienate  and  turn  into  enemies  a large  part  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  provinces  nominally  subject  to  his  control. 
As  soon  as  he  learned  of  Benalcazar’s  action,  he  advanced 
with  a body  of  four  thousand  men  to  repel  the  invasion. 
The  forces  met  in  a little  valley  on  the  border  between  the 
provinces  of  Puruha  and  Canar,  where  the  Indians  occu- 
pied a small  fort.  In  the  battle  fought  here,  the  Indians 
are  reported  to  have  lost  six  hundred  men,  while  of  the 
Spaniards  only  two  were  killed,  but  a large  number  were 
severely  wounded.  The  engagement  closed  at  nightfall, 
but  without  a positive  result.  Ruminahui  withdrew  to 
effect  a union  with  the  rest  of  his  soldiers,  who  are  said  to 
have  numbered  eight  thousand.  A second  conflict  was 


io4  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

also  not  decisive,  and  caused  the  Spaniards  to  discuss  the 
project  to  abandon  the  undertaking.  They  were  hampered 
in  their  movements  by  the  large  number  of  their  wounded, 
and  they  had  reason  to  doubt  their  ability  to  carry  their 
campaign  to  a successful  issue.  At  this  stage  of  the  affairs, 
the  country  was  shaken  by  a terrible  eruption  of  Cotopaxi, 
and  to  the  frightened  followers  of  Ruminahui  the  tradition 
concerning  the  destruction  of  their  kingdom  seemed  about 
to  be  fulfilled.  The  Indian  forces  withdrew,  a large  part 
of  them  gradually  abandoning  their  leader  and  giving  up 
what  appeared  to  them  a hopeless  struggle  against  a 
decree  of  fate  foretold  by  their  gods.  By  this  the  danger 
of  annihilation,  which  threatened  the  soldiers  of  Benal- 
cazar, was  averted.1 

As  a result  of  the  eruption,  the  region  was  covered 
with  ashes,  and  the  vegetation  had  almost  entirely  dis- 
appeared. The  hamlets  and  towns  that  had  been  spared 
by  the  volcano  were  destroyed  by  the  Indians  themselves 
in  their  flight  towards  the  north.  When  they  reached  the 
capital,  they  carried  off  the  treasure  of  Atahualpa,  and 
surrendered  the  city  to  the  flames.  Having  completed 
his  work  of  destruction,  Ruminahui  retired  to  the  moun- 
tains. From  Riobamba  the  Spaniards  followed  the  re- 
retreating horde  towards  Quito  without  encountering  any 
opposition  by  the  Indians.  They  were  nevertheless  dis- 
appointed on  reaching  Quito  near  the  end  of  December 
1533,  not  to  find  the  treasure  they  had  expected,  but  only 
a mass  of  smoking  ruins.  The  lack  of  shelter  for  his  men 
led  Benalcazar  to  retire  to  Riobamba  with  the  majority 
of  his  followers,  leaving  his  lieutenant  and  a fewr  soldiers 
to  provide  quarters,  and  prepare  for  the  formal  entry  of  the 
conqueror.  The  next  year,  1534,  in  which  this  event  took 

1 Lopez  de  Gomara,  Historic/,  dc  las  Indias,  in  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp., 
xxii.  234.  For  some  account  of  Ruminahui  immediately  before  the 
advance  of  Benalcazar,  see  Velasco,  Hist,  de  Quito  (Paris,  1840),  ii. 
4-17,  29. 


THE  INVASION  OF  PERU 


105 

place,  may  be  regarded  as  the  date  of  the  foundation  of 
the  Spanish  city  of  Quito.  Hereafter  Benalcazar  was 
chiefly  engaged  in  the  conquest  and  government  of  the 
province  of  Popayan.1 

1 Groot,  Hisloria  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  27,  108-10 ; Cevallos, 
Historia  del  Ecuador,  i.  262-75  • Lorente,  Conquista  del  Peru,  232-36  ; 
Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  ii.  14-16  ; Benedetti,  Historia  de  Colombia, 
128-34  ; Zarate,  Historia  del  Peril,  in  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xxvi.  480-84  ; 
Documentos  literarios  del  Peru,  colectados  y arreglados  por  Manuel 
de  Odriozola  (Lima,  1873),  iv.  28,  29  ; Piedrahita,  lib.  iv.  cap.  i.  108- 
ii5- 


CHAPTER  VII 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS 

I.  The  intervention  of  Alvarado.  II.  The  extension  of  Pizarro’s 
territory  and  the  grant  to  Almagro.  III.  The  dispute  about 
Cuzco. 


I 

While  Benalcazar  was  forming  plans  for  future  conquests, 
and  waiting  at  Riobamba  for  the  partial  reconstruction  of 
Quito,  he  was  surprised  to  learn  of  the  approach  of  Almagro 
at  the  head  of  a company  of  soldiers.  Pizarro’s  appoint- 
ment of  Benalcazar  to  be  the  governor  of  San  Miguel  did 
not  authorise  him  to  undertake  the  conquest  of  Quito. 
When,  therefore,  information  reached  Cuzco  that  Benal- 
cazar was  preparing  an  expedition  designed  to  take  that 
city,  Pizarro  and  his  associates  had  grave  suspicions  con- 
cerning the  motives  that  had  prompted  this  campaign. 
They  feared  the  loss  of  the  northern  part  of  their  territory, 
and  it  was  decided  that  Benalcazar  should  be  called  to 
account  for  his  unauthorised  undertaking.  Almagro  led 
a body  of  soldiers  to  San  Miguel,  but  before  his  arrival 
Benalcazar  had  left  the  colony.  Almagro  followed  him 
to  Riobamba,  and  here  Benalcazar  affirmed  his  loyalty  in 
such  a manner  that  the  two  leaders  had  no  difficulty  in 
entering  into  friendly  relations  with  one  another.  Here 
they  awaited  with  some  anxiety  the  arrival  of  Pedro  de 
Alvarado  and  his  troops,  who  had  landed  at  Caraques  in 
March  1534. 

Alvarado  had  served  under  Cortes  in  Mexico,  and  at 
his  post  as  governor  of  Guatemala,  he  had  received  reports 
of  the  spoils  which  Pizarro  had  acquired  in  Peru  ; and 

106 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  107 

since  the  northern  capital  of  the  Incas,  the  ancient  resi- 
dence of  Atahualpa,  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  natives, 
he  fancied  that  through  its  conquest  he  might  secure  an 
amount  of  wealth  comparable  with  that  which  Pizarro  had 
received.  He,  therefore,  organised  a well-equipped  force 
of  five  hundred  men,  about  half  of  whom  were  mounted, 
and  with  this  little  army  he  sailed  for  the  south  in  Feb- 
ruary 1534.  From  Caraques  he  proceeded  by  a difficult 
march  towards  Quito,  which  he  pretended  to  believe  lay 
without  the  territory  granted  to  Pizarro.  On  this  march, 
the  dense  forests  and  swamps  of  the  Ecuadorian  lowlands, 
the  declivities  of  the  Andes,  the  fevers  of  the  tropical  coast, 
the  cold,  rare  atmosphere  of  the  mountains  following  the 
heat  and  moisture  of  the  jungle,  presented  conditions 
under  which  a quarter  of  the  soldiers,  a large  number  of 
the  horses,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Indian  carriers 
succumbed  and  perished.1 

Almagro  sent  scouts  to  find  out  the  position  of  Alvarado 
and  his  troops.  The  scouts,  having  been  captured,  were 
afterwards  released  and  sent  back  to  Almagro  with  a letter 
from  Alvarado,  who  affirmed  that  his  expedition  was  de- 
signed only  to  occupy  territory  which  lay  without  the 
limits  of  Pizarro’s  grant  ; that  he  did  not  propose  to  give 
annoyance  to  anyone,  or  cause  dissensions  ; and  that  he 
was  approaching  Riobamba,  where  they  might  consider 
what  would  be  agreeable  to  both  parties.  In  replying  to 
this  letter,  Almagro  sent  two  commissioners  to  Alvarado 
to  express  his  sympathy  in  view  of  the  misfortunes  he  had 
suffered  on  the  march,  and  to  say  that  he  was  disposed  to 
give  full  credit  to  the  statements  contained  in  the  communi- 
cation which  he  had  received.  At  the  same  time  the  mes- 
sengers were  secretly  instructed  to  mingle  with  the 
soldiers,  and  to  give  them  such  information  concerning 

1 For  detailed  accounts  of  this  march,  see  Herrera,  Dec.  V,  lib.  vi. 
cap.  i.,  ii.,  vii.,  viii.,  ix.  ; Pedro  Pizarro,  Descub.  y conq.  ; Oviedo, 
Hist,  de  las  Indias,  parte  iii.  lib.  viii.  cap.  xx.  ; Prescott,  Conquest 
of  Peru,  ii.  10-14;  Letter  of  Alvarado,  March  10,  1534,  Doc.  in&d., 
xli.  513. 


io8  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


the  riches  of  Cuzco  as  would  lead  them  to  desire  to  join 
the  forces  of  Almagro.1 

Some  of  Alvarado’s  captains  were  not  disposed  to 
approve  of  the  submissive  tone  of  his  reply  to  Almagro. 
The  younger  and  more  ambitious  of  them  thought  it 
cowardly  to  give  up  without  a question  the  object  of  all 
their  expense,  toil,  and  suffering  ; and,  since  they  out- 
numbered the  forces  of  Almagro  and  Benalcazar,  they 
wished  to  assume  control  of  the  region,  even  though  such 
action  might  lead  to  active  hostilities.  The  negotiations 
conducted  by  commissioners  appointed  to  represent  the 
two  forces  resulted,  however,  in  an  amicable  agreement, 
under  which  Alvarado  surrendered  his  ships  and  munitions, 
and  left  his  troops  free  to  enter,  if  they  wished  to  do  so,  the 
service  of  Pizarro  ; while  in  compensation  he  received 
one  hundred  thousand  castellanos  de  oro  ; 2 and,  moreover, 
he  promised  to  make  no  contention  respecting  his  rights, 
and  to  return  to  Guatemala.  The  greater  part  of  Alva- 
rado’s troops  remained  with  Benalcazar,  and  took  part 
in  the  conquest  in  the  northern  provinces,  w’here  the  city 
of  Popayan  was  founded  in  1536. 


1 Cevallos,  Historia  del  Ecuador,  i.  276-89;  Mendiburu,  i.  111-14, 
202-9;  Lorente,  Conquista  del  Peru,  237-51;  Herrera,  Hist.  Gen., 
Dec.  V,  lib.  vi.  cap.  i.,  ii.,  v.,  vi.  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  x.,  xi. ; Prescott, 
Conquest  of  Peru,  ii.  13-17. 

2 The  castellano  de  oro,  the  peso  de  oro,  and  the  ducado  de  oro  were  the 
same  thing  at  this  period,  and  were  equal  in  value  to  four  pesos  de 
plata.  " Era  lo  que  hoy  decimos  un  dublbn  de  4 cuatro.”  Benedetti, 
Hist,  de  Colombia,  166.  Benzoni,  History  of  the  New  World,  154, says:  " It 
was  arranged  that  Alvarado  should  cede  his  army  to  Pizarro  and 
Almagro,  and  that  they  should  give  him  a hundred  thousand  golden 
ducats,  on  condition  that  he  should  go  away  and  never  more  return 
to  that  kingdom.  In  this  manner  Alvarado  departed  from  Peru  with 
four  servants,  and  returned  to  Guatemala  in  good  spirits  and  con- 
tented.” Lorente,  Conquista  del  Peru,  237-57. 

One  of  Alvarado’s  captains  was  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  father  of 
the  writer  of  the  Royal  Commentaries  of  the  Yncas.  He  remained  in 
Peru  after  the  agreement  had  been  formed  between  Alvarado  and 
Almagro,  and  was  engaged  in  the  civil  wars.  He  established  himself 
as  a citizen  of  Cuzco,  and  married  Isabel  Chimpa  Ocllo,  a daughter 
of  Hualpa  Tupac,  and  granddaughter  of  Inca  Tupac  Yupanqui. 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  109 


II 

An  account  of  the  early  events  of  the  conquest  of  Peru 
was  presented  to  Charles  V by  Hernando  Pizarro,  who 
visited  Spain  in  1534.  He  took  with  him  the  king’s  fifth 
of  the  precious  metals  that  had  been  accumulated  prior 
to  his  departure.  This  contribution  embraced  not  merely 
bars  of  gold,  but  also  many  vases  and  other  works  of 
Indian  art  that  had  been  taken  from  the  temples,  and 
brought  together  as  the  ransom  of  Atahualpa.  No  other 
arguments  were  needed  to  persuade  the  emperor  to  grant 
Pizarro’s  request.  In  a royal  decree,  therefore,  dated  at 
Toledo,  May  4,  1534,  he  enlarged  the  territory  granted  to 
Pizarro.  This  addition  extended  from  Cincha,  the  south- 
ern limit  of  the  previous  grant,  seventy  leagues  towards 
the  south  ; and  it  was  expressly  stated  that  the  seventy 
leagues  measured  along  the  coast  should  be  over  and  above 
the  two  hundred  leagues  that  had  been  conveyed  by  the 
Capitulation  of  1529,  so  that  there  should  be  in  all  a terri- 
tory, the  side  of  which  along  the  coast  should  measure  two 
hundred  and  seventy  leagues.1 

Chimpa  Ocllo  was  the  name  of  the  nusta,  or  princess,  but,  like  many 
others,  she  received  a Spanish  name  on  the  occasion  of  her  baptism, 
and  was  called  Dona  Isabel.  She  became  the  mother  of  the  historian, 
some  account  of  whose  life  and  writings  is  given  by  C.  R.  Markham 
in  the  introduction  to  his  translation  of  the  Royal  Commentaries. 

1 The  document  conveying  the  additional  grant  to  Pizarro  is 
printed  in  Carlos  Morla  Vicuna’s  Esiudio  historico  (Leipzig,  1903), 
Appendix  No.  2:  “ Nos,  acatando  lo  susodicho  y los  servicios  que  vos 
el  dicho  Francisco  Pizarro  nos  habeis  fecho  en  el  dicho  descubrimiento 
del  Peru,  y los  que  esperamos  que  nos  hareis  de  aqui  adelanto,  e por 
vos  facer  merced,  queremos  y es  nuestra  voluntad  de  vos  alargar  los 
limites  de  la  dicha  gobernacion  en  la  tierra  de  los  dichos  caciques 
nombrados  Coli  e Chipi,  con  que  no  exceda  de  setenta  legnas  de  luengo 
de  costa.”  The  royal  decree  of  May  4,  1534  ; Libro  primero  de  cabildos 
de  Lima,  iii.  147. 

Referring  to  the  results  of  Hernando’s  mission  to  Spain,  Lorentc 
says,  “ A1  Gobernador  de  Peru  se  le  concedieron  el  titulo  de  Marquis 
de  los  Atavillos”  ( Conquista  del  Peril,  259).  Larraburre  y Unanue, 
Monografias  Historico- Americanas,  325-40,  discusses  the  question,  and 


no  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


Later  in  the  same  month,  May  21,  1534,  the  emperor 
granted  to  Diego  Almagro  the  territory  extending  south- 
ward two  hundred  leagues,  beginning  with  the  limit  that 
had  been  fixed  for  Pizarro’s  realm,  towards  the  Strait  of 
Magellan.1  There  was  no  lack  of  definiteness  in  the  terms 
of  the  grants  to  the  two  commanders,  but,  for  want  of 
accurate  measurements,  it  was  still  doubtful  to  whom  be- 
longed the  ancient  capital,  Cuzco.  The  conflict  which 
threatened  to  grow  out  of  this  controversy  was  temporarily 
set  aside  by  a compact  between  Pizarro  and  Almagro,  in 
which  they  agreed  to  observe  towards  one  another  such 
conduct  as  civilised  men  have  supposed  was  demanded  by 

makes  the  statement  that  “ es  indudable  que  Francisco  Pizarro  no 
fue  Marques  de  los  Atavillos  y de  los  Charcas,  como  han  pretendido 
algunos  historiadores.”  There  is  no  legitimate  ground  for  doubting 
that  the  title  of  Marquis  was  conferred  upon  Francisco  Pizarro,  but 
it  does  not  appear  what  lands  were  associated  with  the  title.  He 
had  encomiendas  in  the  region  that  became  known  as  Upper  Peru, 
and  it  is  possible  that  this  may  account  for  the  form  of  the  title  which 
some  writers  have  used.  Although  after  a certain  period  his  signature 
was  always  written,  El  Marquis  Pizarro , by  his  secretary  or  by  a 
clerk,  Larrabure  y Unanue  is  of  the  opinion  that  this  was  not  all  of 
his  proper  title.  “ Como  se  ha  visto,”  he  writes,  “ no  creo  que  el 
marquesado  de  Francisco  Pizarro  sea  una  simple  cuestion  de  titulo  : no 
opino  que  solo  hubo  desidia  de  parte  del  conquistador,  6 de  fray  Vicente 
Valverde,  en  senalar  las  tierras  ; 6 bien  un  olvido  del  Emperador. 
Yo  atribuyo  mas  importancia  a este  asunto.  En  el  aplazamiento 
estudiado  de  Carlos  V,  veo  el  justo  deseo  que  tenian  los  soberanos  de 
separar  todo  combustible  en  la  primera  guerra  civil  del  Peru,  y juzgo 
el  prolongado  silencio  y la  actitud  del  Marques,  como  un  acto  de 
respeto  y acatamiento  a la  voluntad  imperial  y de  que,  como  buen 
espanol,  dio  siempre  relevantes  pruebas”  ( Monografias  Historico- 
Americanas,  339). 

The  editor  of  Libro  primero  de  cahildos  de  Lima,  ii.  161,  affirms  that, 
concerning  this  subject,  it  is  only  certain  that  Pizarro  received  the 
“ titulo  de  Marques,  sin  denomination."  The  whole  discussion  to  which 
reference  is  here  made  covers  pp.  159-66.  Zarate,  Historia  del  Peru, 
lib.  iii.  cap.  v. ; Herrera,  Dec.  VI,  lib.  6,  cap.  ix. ; Garcilaso,  Comen- 
tarios  reales,  lib.  ii.  part  II,  cap.  xxii. ; Quintana,  Vida  de  espaiioles 
cilebres,  in  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xix.  343. 

For  decrees  and  provisions  relating  to  the  encomiendas  of  Francisco 
Pizarro,  his  coat  of  arms  as  marquis,  the  commission  to  Bishop 
Valverde  and  Castro  respecting  the  Indians  that  were  to  be  assigned 
to  him  as  vassals,  see  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  ii.  167-88. 

1 Doc.  inid.,  xxii.  338-50. 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  m 


common  decency.  Neither  should  malign  the  other,  nor 
injure  him  with  respect  to  his  reputation,  his  person,  or 
his  property.  They  swore  to  carry  out  strictly  the  terms 
of  the  present  agreement ; that  neither  should  report  or 
write  to  the  king  without  the  knowledge  of  the  other  ; and 
that  all  the  profits  and  interests  which  should  be  acquired 
by  future  conquests  and  discoveries  should  be  shared 
equally  by  both.  Upon  either  of  the  parties  who  should 
act  contrary  to  this  compact,  they  invoked  the  Divine 
wrath,  and  prayed  that  Heaven  might  visit  him  with  the 
loss  of  honour,  family,  and  property  in  this  life,  and  with 
eternal  perdition  in  the  life  to  come.  The  agreement 
was  confirmed  by  a solemn  oath  taken  on  the  sacrament, 
recorded  by  a notary,  and  attested  by  a large  number  of 
witnesses.1 


Ill 

The  question  as  to  the  possession  of  Cuzco  was  un- 
settled when  Almagro  determined  to  explore  the  southern 
part  of  the  territory  covered  by  the  concession  of  May  21, 
1534.  The  adventurers  who  had  been  attracted  by  the 
wealth  of  the  country  were  easily  persuaded  to  join  any 
exploring  expedition  ; and  from  these  Almagro  gathered 
a force  of  five  hundred  Spaniards,  who,  on  setting  out  for 
Chile,  in  1535,  were  accompanied  by  a troop  of  Indian 
carriers  said  to  contain  fifteen  thousand  persons.  He 
chose  the  route  over  the  mountains,  instead  of  that  along 
the  shore,  and  it  is  reported  that  on  the  way  he  lost  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards  and  ten  thousand  Indians. 
The  hardships  of  the  mountain  journey,  the  fierce  hostility 

1 The  document  conveying  territory  to  Almagro  was  entitled, 
Capitulacion  que  se  to  mo  con  el  Mariscal  Don  Diego  de  Almagro  para 
descubrir  doscientos  leguas  del  Mar  del  Sur  hacia  el  Estrecho.  It  has 
been  printed  in  Documentos  intditos,  tomo  xxii.  338-50.  The  contract 
between  Pizarro  and  Almagro,  dated  at  Cuzco,  June  12,  1535,  the 
original  of  which  is  in  the  archives  at  Simancas,  may  be  read  in  full 
in  Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  ii.  Appendix  No.  11  ; Lorente,  Con- 
quista  del  Peru,  260-64. 


112  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


of  the  Indians,  and  the  privations  of  the  desert  cooled  the 
ardour  of  the  survivors,  and  made  them  anxious  to  abandon 
an  undertaking  which  gave  no  promise  of  profit.  The 
men  were  dissatisfied,  and  their  complaints  had  much  in- 
fluence in  persuading  Almagro  to  return  to  Cuzco.  Taking 
advantage  of  the  uncertainty  which  prevailed  concerning 
the  position  of  the  southern  boundary  of  Pizarro’s  terri- 
tory, Almagro  was  enabled  to  assert  a claim  to  the  ancient 
capital.1 

Hernando  Pizarro  was,  however,  in  possession  of  the 
city  ; but  at  the  time  in  question  no  measurements  had 
been  made  which  would  enable  anyone  to  know  whether 
the  boundary  between  the  territories  of  Almagro  and 
Pizarro  lay  north  or  south  of  Cuzco.  Informed  that 
Pizarro  was  strengthening  his  position,  and  that  reinforce- 
ments were  approaching,  Almagro  entered  the  city,  cap- 
tured Hernando  Pizarro,  and  imprisoned  him,  together 
with  fifteen  or  twenty  of  his  principal  officers.  This 
event  appears  to  have  convinced  the  inhabitants  of  the 
justice  of  Almagro’s  claim.  The  troops  sent  by  Francisco 
Pizarro  from  Lima  had  been  several  months  on  the  way, 
and,  after  they  had  arrived  at  Jauja,  Almagro  sent  a com- 
mission to  their  leader,  Alonso  Alvarado,  consisting  of 

1 Zarate,  Agustin  de,  Historia  del  descubrimiento  y conquista  del 
Peril,  lib.  iii.  cap.  i-iv. 

In  a note  to  The  Life  and  Acts  of  Don  Alonso  Enriquez  de  Guzman , 
Sir  Clements  R.  Markham  refers  to  the  fact  that  “ the  point  where 
the  line  was  to  commence  was  not  fixed,  nor  was  it  specified  how  it 
was  to  be  measured,  and  in  short  the  question  of  the  boundary  was  a 
very  complicated  and  difficult  one,  even  for  an  unprejudiced  person 
to  decide.  But  in  quitting  Cuzco  to  conquer  what  he  considered  his 
province  farther  south,  Almagro  had  virtually  conceded  the  point  ; 
and  he  now  returned  to  open  the  question,  after  finding  the  bleak 
plains  of  the  Collao  and  of  Chile,  and  the  sandy  wastes  of  Atacama, 
very  distasteful  both  to  himself  and  to  his  followers.”  Hakluyt,  xxix. 
107.  It  does  not,  however,  follow,  because  Almagro  went  to  explore 
that  part  of  his  territory  where  his  rights  were  undisputed,  that  by 
that  act  he  relinquished  his  right  to  those  portions  which,  for  lack 
of  an  authoritative  survey,  were  the  object  of  conflicting  claims.  On 
the  geographical  difficulties  involved  in  the  contest,  see  Morla  Vicuna, 
Estudio  historico,  107. 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  113 

Juan  de  Guzman,  Diego  de  Mercado,  Francisco  de  Prado, 
Diego  and  Gomez  de  Alvarado,  and  Alonzo  Enriquez  de 
Guzman. 

Enriquez  de  Guzman,  one  of  these  messengers,  has 
left  a record  of  this  mission  to  the  camp  of  the  enemy. 
“ We  travelled  all  night,”  he  wrote  in  his  Life  and  Acts, 
“ and  arrived  at  the  camp  of  Alvarado  at  dawn,  which  we 
found  in  a very  strong  position,  surrounded  by  lofty  moun- 
tains. In  front  of  the  camp  flowed  a broad  and  rapid  river, 
spanned  by  a bridge  which  was  defended  by  pieces  of  artil- 
lery. The  said  Captain  Alvarado  received  us  courteously 
and  with  open  arms  on  the  bridge,  and  conducted  us  up  the 
side  of  the  mountain  to  his  quarters,  where  there  were 
many  knights  and  honourable  persons,  and  where  we  were 
invited  to  dinner.  Afterwards  he  stood  up  in  the  midst 
of  his  officers,  and  said  : ‘ Gentlemen,  I come  to  succour 
the  city  of  Cuzco,  by  order  of  my  master,  Don  Francisco 
Pizarro,  because  it  is  a part  of  his  territory,  and  because 
he  believed  that  Don  Diego  Almagro  was  dead.  I now 
hear  that  he  has  entered  by  force  into  the  city  of  Cuzco, 
and  made  the  inhabitants  obey  him  as  their  governor, 
seizing  Hernando  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  the  brothers  of 
our  master,  with  the  intention  of  beheading  them  ; for 
which  reason  I shall  detain  your  worships.’  ” 

The  messengers  were  interrupted  in  their  reply  ; their 
swords  were  taken  away,  and  they  were  put  in  irons,  under 
a strong  guard.  Later  they  were  confined  in  a stone 
prison,  which  the  Indians  were  employed  to  build.  When 
Almagro  found  that  negotiations  for  the  release  of  the 
prisoners  were  fruitless,  he  marched  out  of  Cuzco  with 
four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  reached  the  side  of  the 
river  opposite  Alvarado’s  camp.  The  efforts  that  were 
made,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  prisoners,  to  have  the  im- 
pending battle  put  off,  were  unsuccessful.  The  cavalry 
crossed  the  river  at  a ford,  while  the  infantry  rushed  across 
the  bridge  and  scattered  the  small  body  of  defenders  at 
the  farther  end.  The  result  was  quickly  determined  ; 

VOL.  1.  H 


1 14  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  Alvarado  surrendered  with  all  his  force.  Enriquez 
de  Guzman,  one  of  the  prisoners,  says,  “ Only  three  or 
four  were  killed,  and  our  deliverers  came  up  and  let  us 
out,  after  we  had  suffered  in  that  solitary  prison  for  twenty- 
seven  days.  I feared  all  the  time  that  they  would  put  me 
to  death,  because  I was  an  enemy  of  Hernando  Pizarro  ; and 
I joyfully  returned  to  Cuzco  with  the  victorious  party.”  1 

Almagro’s  victory  caused  Francisco  Pizarro  to  make 
provision  for  the  defence  of  Lima.  At  the  same  time 
Pizarro  sent  a commission  to  negotiate  with  a commission 
appointed  by  Almagro  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the 
boundary  dispute.  Alonzo  Enriquez  de  Guzman,  who 
was  one  of  Almagro’s  commissioners,  mentions  Diego 
Nunez  de  Mercado  as  the  other  ; and  names  Francisco 
de  Chaves  and  the  Friar  Juan  de  Olivas  as  the  commis- 
sioners of  Francisco  Pizarro. 

The  commissioners  failed  to  reach  a satisfactory  con- 
clusion, and  subsequently  the  friar  Bobadillo  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  the  arbitrator  of  the  controversy.  Enriquez 
de  Guzman,  who,  together  with  his  associates,  was  sup- 
planted by  the  friar,  naturally  felt  chagrin  at  his  dismissal, 
affirmed  that  “ the  devil  always  seeks  for  suitable  men  to 
do  his  will  in  affairs  of  importance  ; and  he,  therefore, 
chose  this  friar.”  He  also  presents  the  following  as  Boba- 
dilla’s  address  to  Almagro  : “ I regret  that  you  should 
have  trusted  your  honour  and  estate  to  four  covetous 
persons,  thus  placing  what  you  have  gained  with  so  much 
labour  in  great  danger  ; for  these  four  cannot  arrange 
this  affair,  two  of  them  taking  the  part  of  their  master,  and 
the  other  two  of  theirs.  You  ought  to  appoint  a judge 
between  them.”  Almagro  replied  that  he  did  not  know 
a person  who  was  fit  for  such  a post,  unless  it  might  be  the 

1 The  Life  and  Acts  of  Don  Alonzo  Enriquez  de  Guzman,  in  Hakluyt, 
xxix.  1 14.  In  a note  to  this  passage,  Markham  gives  some  account 
of  his  efforts  " to  trace  out  the  scene  of  these  events,  and  the  site  of 
Alvarado’s  camp,”  and  makes  reference  to  an  ancient  stone  building 
on  an  isolated  hill,  which  was  probably  the  building  in  which  the 
commissioners  were  imprisoned. 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  1 15 

friar  himself.  “ If  you  leave  the  business  in  my  hands,” 
the  friar  answered,  “ I swear  to  you  by  the  habit  of  our 
Lady  of  Mercy  which  I have  received,  to  give  you  the 
boundary  you  have  claimed,  until  a competent  judge  shall 
have  arrived  from  his  Majesty  the  King  our  Lord.”  1 

The  negotiations  under  the  mediation  of  the  friar  were 
carried  on,  in  November  1537,  at  Mala,  on  the  coast  of 
Peru,  about  fifty  miles  south  of  Lima.  No  conclusion 
having  been  reached  by  the  method  provided  for  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  two  parties,  the  matter  in  dispute  was 
left  to  the  arbitral  decision  of  Bobadilla.  The  decision 
rendered  provided  that  the  exact  latitude  of  Pizarro’s 
northern  boundary  should  be  determined,  and  by  proper 
measurements  from  this  the  southern  boundary  should 
be  fixed.  Pending  the  execution  of  this  plan,  Almagro 
was  required  to  surrender  Cuzco  to  Pizarro  within  thirty 
days,  and  to  give  up  his  prisoners  within  six  days.  Pizarro 
was  required  to  furnish  Almagro  with  a ship  to  take  his 
despatches  to  the  king  ; and  each  party  was  obliged  to 
retire  within  the  limits  of  its  undisputed  territory  ; and 
both  should  abstain  from  all  hostilities  in  the  future.  This 
decision  was  announced,  November  15,  1537. 2 

This  treaty  having  been  concluded,  Pizarro  made 
somewhat  extravagant  manifestations  of  friendship  for 
Almagro’s  officers,  and  particularly  for  his  son,  Diego  Al- 
magro, but  at  the  same  time  he  was  making  preparations 
for  military  operations.  His  show  of  good-will  deceived 
the  unsuspicious  mind  of  his  rival.  The  interviews  at 
Mala  were  scarcely  ended  before  Pizarro  sought  to  arouse 
the  warlike  spirit  of  his  troops  by  reciting  to  them  the 

1 Life  and  Acts  of  Enriquez  de  Guzman , in  Hakluyt,  xxix.  117. 

2 Hakluyt,  xxix.  117,  118,  119;  Alonso  Enriquez  de  Guzman’s 
letter  to  the  emperor,  written  at  Seville  after  his  return  from  Peru, 
in  Hakluyt,  xxix.  142-53  ; for  the  documents  in  this  case,  see  Libro 
primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  iii.  168-82.  Numerous  letters  and  re- 
laciones  relating  to  the  differences  between  Almagro  and  Pizarro  were 
sent  to  the  king,  some  of  which  are  printed  in  Documentos  iniditos,  iii. 
58,  64,  70,  88,  137,  142,  148,  152. 


1 16  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


wrongs  he  had  suffered  at  Almagro’s  hands.  On  account 
of  his  age  he  proposed  to  turn  over  the  command  to  his 
brothers  ; then,  in  order  that  Hernando  might  not  be 
embarrassed  by  obligations  assumed  on  the  occasion  of 
his  liberation,  Francisco  Pizarro  undertook  to  release  him 
from  all  promises  made  to  Almagro. 

The  agreement  formed  at  Mala  was  short-lived.  After 
a brief  interval  Pizarro  informed  Almagro  that  it  was 
annulled,  and  commanded  him  to  abandon  his  pretensions 
to  Cuzco.  It  thus  became  clear  that  clemency  was  an 
unprofitable  virtue  in  dealing  with  such  men  as  Francisco 
and  Hernando  Pizarro  ; and  Almagro’s  mistake  was  to 
expect,  under  the  circumstances,  good  results  from  his 
considerate  treatment  of  his  enemies  after  he  had  in- 
augurated a policy  of  force.  His  outlook  was  not  hopeful. 
Hernando  Pizarro  had  been  liberated  ; he  had  repudiated 
all  the  obligations  he  had  assumed  in  acquiring  his  liberty  ; 
and,  by  the  retirement  of  Francisco  Pizarro  to  Lima,  he 
had  become  the  leader  of  the  troops  that  had  started  in 
pursuit  of  Almagro,  on  the  way  to  Cuzco. 

After  reaching  the  capital,  Almagro  wished  to  open 
negotiations  with  the  enemy,  but  his  faithful  and  wise 
lieutenant,  Orgonez,  persuaded  him  that  it  was  too  late, 
and  that  there  was  no  way  out  of  his  difficulties  but 
through  victory  in  battle.  At  this  time  Almagro  was  ill, 
and  unable  to  take  active  command  of  his  troops.  This  re- 
sponsibility fell  upon  Orgonez.  The  two  forces  met  at  Las 
Salinas,  a place  that  derived  its  name  from  certain  salt  pits, 
about  three  miles  from  Cuzco.  Pizarro  had  about  seven 
hundred  men,  and  Almagro  five  hundred.  The  results 
of  the  conflict  were  that  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  or 
two  hundred  men  were  killed,  among  whom  was  the  heroic 
leader,  Orgonez  ; and  that  Almagro  was  captured  and  his 
little  army  completely  overthrown  and  scattered.1 

1 A contemporary  account  of  the  battle  of  Las  Salinas  is  found  in 
The  Life  and  Acts  of  Don  Alonzo  Enriquez  de  Guzman,  translated  by 
C.  R.  Markham,  and  published  by  the  Hakluyt  Society,  vol.  xxix.  125- 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  n 7 

This  last  act  of  the  early  Peruvian  tragedy  was  played 
in  the  presence  of  hundreds  of  Indians,  who  looked  on 
from  the  neighbouring  heights.  They  saw  hope  of  advan- 
tage for  themselves  in  this  bloody  conflict  between  two 
parties  of  their  enemies,  and  the  greater  the  carnage  the 
greater  their  advantage.  The  last  scene  of  the  act  was 
the  imprisonment  and  execution  of  Almagro.  “ Hernando 
Pizarro  notified  the  sentence  of  death  to  him  ; and  the 
unfortunate  old  man,  when  he  had  heard  it,  considered  it 
to  be  an  abominable  deed,  contrary  to  law,  justice,  and 
reason.  He  was  horrified,  and  said  that  he  appealed  to 
the  emperor  and  king,  Don  Carlos,  his  lord.  Hernando 
Pizarro  answered  that  he  should  dispose  his  mind  to  think 
of  spiritual  things,  for  that  the  sentence  would  be  executed. 
Then  the  poor  old  man  went  down  on  his  knees  on  the 
ground,  and  said  : ‘ O my  Lord  Don  Hernando  Pizarro, 
content  yourself  with  the  vengeance  you  have  already 
enjoyed.  Think  that,  besides  the  treason  to  God  and  the 
emperor  that  my  death  will  make  you  guilty  of,  you  give 
me  an  evil  return  for  what  I have  done  for  you  ; for  I was 
the  first  step  of  the  ladder  by  which  you  and  your  brother 
rose  to  power.  Remember,  too,  that  when  you  were  my 
prisoner,  those  of  my  council  importuned  me  to  cut  off 
your  head,  and  I resisted,  and  gave  you  your  life.’  Her- 
nando Pizarro  then  answered  : ‘ Sir,  do  not  thus  degrade 
yourself ; die  as  bravely  as  you  have  lived  ; your  present 
conduct  is  not  that  of  a knight.’  The  unfortunate  old 
man  replied  that  he  was  human,  and  dreaded  death, 
‘ although,’  he  added,  ‘ I do  not  fear  it  so  much  for  myself, 


130.  Prescott,  who  was  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  this  account, 
has  left  a characteristic  description  of  the  battle  in  his  History  of  the 
Conquest  of  Peru,  bk.  iv.  chap.  ii.  Other  readily-available  sources  of 
information  are  : Herrera,  Historia  general,  Dec.  vi.  lib.  3,  4 ; Zarate, 
Historia  del  Descubrimiento  y Conquista  del  Peru,  lib.  3,  cap.  8-1 1 ; 
Pedro  Pizarro,  Relacion  del  Descubrimiento  y Conquista  de  los  Reinos 
del  Peru  ; Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Comentarios  Reales  del  Peru,  parte  2, 
lib.  2,  cap.  35-8  ; Relacion  hecha  por  el  Tesorero  Manuel  de  Espinar 
al  Emperador,  in  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  iii.  189-216. 


1 1 8 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


for  I am  old  and  infirm,  and  have  few  years  to  live  in  the 
course  of  nature,  but  rather  for  the  sake  of  so  many  noble 
knights  who  are  my  followers,  and  who  will  be  lost  without 
a leader  when  I am  gone.’  Hernando  Pizarro  went  away, 
saying  that  he  would  send  a friar  to  whom  the  old  man 
might  confess  his  sins.”  1 

Almagro  was  executed  in  the  prison  at  Cuzco,  and 
after  his  death  Francisco  Pizarro  was  the  undisputed 
master  of  Peru,  with  a prospect  of  extending  his  jurisdic- 
tion by  conquests  farther  towards  the  south. 

In  this  manner  was  ended  the  first  civil  war  between 
different  factions  of  Spaniards  in  Peru.  The  general 
effect  on  the  condition  of  the  country  was  a marked  in- 
crease in  disorder  and  confusion  everywhere.  The  ancient 
government  had  been  overthrown,  and  in  view  of  the  con- 
flicts between  the  Spaniards  and  the  Indians,  and  the  in- 
ternal struggles  arising  from  the  jealousy  of  the  Spanish 
leaders,  the  province  appeared  to  be  on  the  verge  of  hope- 
less anarchy.  As  a means  of  averting  the  impending 
danger,  Pizarro  established  settlements  in  the  disaffected 
districts.  These  were  called  cities,  and  had,  in  fact,  the 
form  of  a municipal  corporation,  but  they  were  in  reality 
military  colonies  for  the  maintenance  of  order  and  the 
Spanish  authority.  Settlers  were  attracted  to  them  by 
the  protection  which  they  afforded,  and  by  the  grants  of 
land  offered,  and  they  grew  rapidly  to  be  not  merely  mili- 
tary outposts,  but  also  centres  of  local  commerce.  Among 
the  settlements  of  this  time,  which  later  became  conspicuous 
cities,  were  La  Plata,  in  the  district  of  Charcas,  Arequipa 
at  an  oasis  in  the  desert  midway  between  the  mountain 
and  the  sea,  and  Lima  on  the  Rimac. 

The  party  of  Almagro  was  not  destroyed  by  the  execu- 
tion of  its  chief.  This  act,  aside  from  its  criminal  quality, 

1 The  Life  and  Acts  of  Don  Alonzo  Enriquez  de  Guzman,  Hakluyt, 
xxix.  131,  132,  150,  151  ; Garcilasso  dc  la  Vega,  Com.  Real,  parte  ii. 
lib.  ii.  cap.  39  ; Herrera,  Hist.  General,  Dec.  vi.  lib.  5,  cap.  i. ; Prescott, 
Conquest  of  Peru,  ii.  116-20. 


RIVALRY  OF  SPANISH  LEADERS  119 

was  clearly  a political  blunder.  It  provoked  a desire  for 
revenge,  and  the  conspirators  who  assassinated  Francisco 
Pizarro,  June  16,  1541,  only  gave  effective  expression  to 
the  hatred  which  the  conduct  of  Pizarro  had  inspired  in 
the  followers  of  Almagro.1 

Almagro  had  appointed  his  son  as  his  successor,  and 
the  younger  Almagro  was  thus  authorised  to  govern  the 
territory  that  had  been  granted  to  his  father.  He  was 
proclaimed  governor  of  Peru,  and  after  the  death  of 
Pizarro,  he  was  recognised  as  such  by  the  cabildo  of  Lima. 

The  conflict  between  Pizarro  and  Almagro  induced  the 
authorities  in  Spain  to  send  Vaca  de  Castro  to  bring  about 
the  pacification  of  the  country.  They  empowered  him 
also  to  assume  the  duties  of  governor  in  case  of  Pizano’s 
death.2 

News  of  the  death  of  Pizarro  reached  Castro  before  his 
arrival  in  Peru,  and  in  Quito  he  caused  himself  to  be  recog- 
nised as  governor.  He  went  afterwards  to  Peru,  and  there 
found  himself  opposed  by  the  younger  Almagro.  All  the 
attempts  to  settle  the  differences  by  negotiations  were 
fruitless,  and  the  active  hostilities  that  ensued  culminated 
in  the  battle  of  Chupas,3  on  September  16,  1542,  and  the 
capture  and  execution  of  Almagro. 

After  the  overthrow  of  the  younger  Almagro,  Vaca  de 
Castro  undertook  to  carry  out  that  part  of  his  instructions 
which  related  to  the  creation  of  new  cncomiendas  and  the 
substitution  of  tribute  by  the  Indians  for  the  personal 


1 On  the  occasion  of  the  exhumation  of  the  body  of  Francisco 
Pizarro  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  assassination,  Larrabure 
y Unanue  made  a careful  statement  of  the  circumstances  of  the  assas- 
sination gathered  from  the  available  historical  sources,  at  the  same 
time  giving  an  account  of  the  wounds  which  caused  the  conquistador’s 
death.  This  statement  is  published  in  his  Monografias  Historico- 
Americanas,  341-55  Letter  of  Martin  de  Arauco  on  the  death  of 
Pizarro,  Doc.  ined.,  iii.  212. 

5 A circumstantial  account  of  the  assassination  of  Francisco  Pizarro 
is  given  by  Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  bk.  iv.  chap.  v. 

3 For  an  account  of  this  battle,  see  Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru, 
ii.  185-218. 


120  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


service  that  had  been  required  of  them.  It  is  probable 
that,  even  under  his  instructions,  the  wisdom  and  prudence 
of  De  Castro  would  have  enabled  him  to  avert  the  revolu- 
tion that  was  destined  to  follow  a rigid  execution  of  the 
emperor’s  proposed  reform,  as  provided  in  the  New  Laws. 
But  in  an  evil  hour  the  authorities  of  Spain  fell  under  the 
influence  of  the  unwise  yet  wrell-intentioned  Las  Casas  ; 
and,  what  was  still  more  unfortunate,  they  determined  to 
send  the  narrow-minded,  conceited,  and  pedantic  Blasco 
Nunez  de  Vela,  with  the  title  of  vicerojq  to  introduce  and 
apply  these  laws  in  Peru. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  TO  SANTA  FE  DE  BOGOTA 

I.  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Lugo.  II.  Quesada  and  his  march  to  the 
highlands.  III.  The  Chibchas.  IV.  The  campaigns  on  the 
plateau  and  the  founding  of  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota.  V.  The  meeting 
of  Quesada,  Benalcazar,  and  Federmann. 

I 

The  fame  of  the  spoils  of  Peru  inspired  the  Spaniards 
with  great  expectations,  stimulated  their  desire  to  emigrate, 
and  moved  the  colonists  already  in  America  to  undertake 
new  explorations.  The  new  prospects  of  gain  excited  the 
avarice  of  the  crown,  and  led  to  the  adoption  of  a new  rule 
for  the  distribution  of  the  treasure  to  be  acquired.  After 
the  capture  of  Atahualpa,  in  Peru,  and  of  Montezuma,  in 
Mexico,  it  appeared  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
similar  events  might  follow  in  other  parts  of  the  continent. 
A general  law  was,  therefore,  framed  to  cover  all  subsequent 
cases,  which  provided  “ that,  if  in  this  conquest  any  prince 
should  be  captured,  from  all  the  treasure  that  may  be  had 
from  him  by  way  of  ransom,  or  in  any  other  manner  what- 
soever, there  shall  be  taken  the  sixth  part  of  it  for  the  royal 
treasury,  and  the  rest  shall  be  distributed  among  the  con- 
quistadores,  after  taking  out  the  royal  fifth  ; but  that  if 
the  said  prince  should  be  killed  in  battle,  or  in  the  execu- 
tion of  justice,  or  in  any  violent  manner  whatsoever,  then 
the  half  of  the  aforesaid  goods  and  treasure  shall  be  for  the 
royal  treasury,  and  only  the  other  half  shall  be  distributed, 
after  taking  away,  in  all  cases,  the  royal  fifth.”  1 

1 Quoted  by  Joaquin  Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  148  ; Piedrahita, 
Historia  general  del  Nueva  Reino  de  Granada,  97. 

121 


i22  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


After  Pizarro’s  invasion  of  Peru,  the  most  noteworthy 
expedition  for  exploration  and  conquest  in  South  America 
was  that  undertaken  by  Jimenez  de  Quesada,  while  Pedro 
Fernandez  de  Lugo  was  governor  and  captain-general  of 
the  province  of  Santa  Marta.  Fernandez  de  Lugo  had 
been  governor  of  the  Canary  Islands,  and  the  flattering 
accounts  which  he  had  received  of  Santa  Marta  and  the 
neighbouring  region  induced  him  to  seek  the  new 
office.  He  was  appointed  in  1535,  two  years  before 
the  arrest  of  Governor  Heredia,  who  had  founded 
Cartagena.  It  was  provided,  that  the  territory  over 
which  he  should  rule  as  governor  of  Santa  Marta 
should  be  limited  on  the  west  by  the  Magdalena  River, 
and  that  this  stream  should  constitute  a common  boun- 
dary between  the  province  of  Santa  Marta  and  the  pro- 
vince of  Cartagena. 

Governor  Lugo  was  authorised  to  grant  lands  to  the 
new  settlers  ; and  he  might  introduce  one  hundred  slaves, 
one-third  of  whom  should  be  women,  without  paying  a 
duty  on  them.  His  instructions  required  him  to  prevent 
all  ill-treatment  of  the  Indians,  as  well  as  their  reduction 
to  slavery.  To  this  general  requirement  the  exception 
was  made  that  they  might  be  enslaved  in  case  they  refused 
to  receive  the  priests,  or  assumed  an  attitude  of  armed 
hostility  ; but  this  exception  was  quite  sufficient  to  render 
the  general  injunction  of  no  avail.1 

Governor  Lugo  appointed  his  son,  Luis  Fernando  de 
Lugo,  to  be  his  lieutenant,  and  Jimenez  de  Quesada  to  be 
justicia-mayor,  or  the  chief  judicial  officer.  Quesada  was 
not  an  unlettered  adventurer,  but  a trained  lawyer,  who 
had  practised  his  profession  in  the  courts  of  Spain.  He 
was  born  in  Cordova,  but  his  family  removed  to  Granada, 
where  his  father,  Luis  Jemenez  de  Quesada,  was  appointed 
to  the  office  of  judge.  He  wrote  an  account  of  his  expedi- 

1 Capitulation  que  se  torao  D.  Alonso  Luis  de  Lugo  en  nombre  de 
D.  Pero  Fernandez  de  Lugo,  Adelantado,  de  la  conquista  y poblacion 
de  las  tierras  de  Santa  Marta,  Doc.  in&d.,  xxii.  406-33. 


OUESADA’S  EXPEDITION 


123 

tion,  which  he  called  a Compendio  historial  dc  las  conquistas 
del  Nuevo  Reino} 

With  more  than  a thousand  men  in  the  fleet  under  his 
command,  Lugo  touched  at  the  Canary  Islands  to  com- 
plete his  equipment,  and  then  passed  directly  to  the  port 
of  Santa  Marta,  where  he  arrived  in  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber, 1535.  The  new  settlers,  who  had  been  attracted  by 
reports  of  the  colony’s  wealth,  were  surprised  and  dis- 
heartened by  the  spectacle  which  the  town  and  its  inhabi- 
tants presented.  Ten  years  after  the  foundation  of  Santa 
Marta,  the  surrounding  lands  were  almost  as  completely 
uncultivated  as  they  were  when  Bastidas  landed  there  in 
1525,  and  the  inhabitants  were  still  very  largely  dependent 
on  such  supplies  as  the  Indians  could  furnish.  The  “ city 
of  Santa  Marta  ” consisted  of  a few  thatched  houses,  but 
not  enough  to  accommodate  half  of  the  governor’s  fol- 
lowers. The  conditions  under  which  the  men  and  women 
of  the  colony  had  lived,  had  wrought  their  physical  ruin. 
They  were  lank  and  feeble,  yellow  with  jaundice,  wearing 
straw  sandals,  and  clothes  made  of  a fabric  of  the  country. 
The  colonists  arriving  with  the  governor  presented  a strong 
contrast  to  those  already  in  the  town.  “ They  came  pro- 
vided with  brilliant  arms,  caps  of  velvet  with  waving 
plumes,  silken  clothing,  coloured  buskins,  and  gilded 
spurs,  while  the  members  of  the  cabildo  came  out  to  wel- 
come them  in  the  dress  of  mule-drivers.” 1  2 

The  magnificence  of  the  newly-arrived  Spaniards  was 
not  destined  to  be  long  maintained.  The  town  furnished 
only  limited  and  imperfect  quarters,  and  the  majority  of 
Lugo’s  men  were  obliged  to  live  in  tents.  Their  bodies 


1 Piedrahita,  Historia  general  del  Nuevo  Reino  de  Granada,  97-100  ; 
Qucsada’s  Compendio  historial  is  reported  to  have  existed  in  the 
National  Library  of  Bogota  as  late  as  1848,  but  was  lost  a little  later 
among  the  papers  of  Antonio  Plaza.  Some  fragments  are  preserved 
in  the  form  of  quotations  in  the  writings  of  Plaza  and  Zamora.  His 
work  as  a chronicler  places  him  among  the  more  cultivated  of  the 
early  explorers.  Vergara,  Historia  de  Literatura  en  Nueva  Granada,  6. 

2 Benedetti,  Historia  dc  Colombia,  136  ; Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  149. 


124  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

became  weakened  by  inadequate  and  unsuitable  food  ; 
their  spirits  were  broken  by  the  sudden  destruction  of  all 
their  expectations  ; and  their  total  ruin  appeared  to  be 
imminent  in  the  presence  of  an  epidemic  of  dysentery. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  governor  determined  to 
undertake  a campaign  into  the  interior  of  the  country. 
This  course  appeared  to  be  urged  by  many  considerations. 
It  would  give  the  soldiers  the  needed  occupation  ; it 
might  furnish  the  governor  the  gold  with  which  to  meet 
certain  unliquidated  expenses  of  the  fleet ; and  a change 
from  the  conditions  of  living  in  and  about  Santa  Marta 
was  imperatively  demanded,  in  order  to  prevent  the  whole 
force  from  succumbing  to  the  ravages  of  disease. 

The  governor  began  the  march  into  the  wilderness 
with  nearly  a thousand  men.  After  the  first  hostile  en- 
counter with  the  Indians,  Lugo  returned  to  Santa  Marta 
with  the  wounded,  and  ordered  his  son,  Luis  de  Lugo,  to 
continue  the  expedition.  The  troops  suffered  from  attacks 
by  the  natives,  and  it  became  more  and  more  difficult  to 
provide  the  food  required  for  the  large  body  of  men  ; and 
to  avoid  this  inconvenience  the  force  was  divided  into  two 
parts,  and  each  proceeded  by  a separate  route.  When, 
finally,  they  turned  back  to  Santa  Marta,  Luis  de  Lugo 
went  in  advance  with  the  gold  that  had  been  collected,  and, 
instead  of  turning  it  over  to  the  governor  to  be  distributed, 
secretly  embarked  for  Spain  with  the  whole  amount. 
This  left  the  governor  in  a position  of  great  embarrassment, 
and,  in  order  that  some  part  of  the  loss  might  be  recovered, 
a vessel  was  sent  in  pursuit.  An  officer  departed  with  this 
vessel,  taking  with  him  a statement  by  the  governor  to  the 
king,  and  all  of  the  documents  that  might  be  necessary  in 
a case  against  the  fugitive.  But  the  governor’s  petition 
to  the  king  for  the  punishment  of  his  son  was  without  im- 
portant results  ; for,  although  Luis  de  Lugo  was  im- 
prisoned, he  was  able  later  to  justify  himself,  or  at  least 
to  move  his  judges  to  release  him. 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION 


125 


II 

By  a proper  cultivation  of  the  soil  the  colony  might 
have  been  free  from  want,  but  the  work  required  for  this 
purpose  the  Spaniards  were  in  general  unwilling  to  per- 
form ; and  the  Indians  were  not  sufficiently  subdued  to 
be  useful  labourers.  For  the  members  of  the  colony  there 
were  apparently  only  two  careers  that  were  acceptable  : 
either  an  idle  existence  in  the  town,  or  the  strenuous  life  of 
the  exploring  expedition.  In  the  inactivity  of  the  town 
they  became  the  victims  of  disease  ; in  the  campaign  in  the 
wilderness  they  were  cut  off  by  accidents,  by  exposure,  by 
over-exertion,  and  starvation.  From  life  in  the  town 
there  was  no  valuable  product,  but  the  booty  derived  from 
exploits  among  the  natives  seemed  to  constitute  a balance 
in  favour  of  this  alternative.  In  view  of  the  spread  of 
disease  and  the  extensive  mortality  at  Santa  Marta,  it 
was  decided  in  a conference  between  Governor  Lugo  and 
his  captains  to  lead  off  a considerable  body  of  men  upon 
a new  exploring  expedition.  Respect  for  the  territorial 
rights  of  Cartagena  on  the  west,  and  for  those  of  Venezuela 
on  the  east,  left  the  explorers  no  choice  but  to  proceed 
directly  southward  up  the  valley  of  the  Magdalena  River. 
They  constructed  a number  of  boats  for  conveying  the 
equipment  and  supplies  and  such  members  of  the  company 
as  might  be  taken  ill  or  become  in  any  other  manner  unable 
to  keep  their  places  in  the  ranks.  But  each  soldier 
carried  a small  amount  of  clothing  and  food  on  his  back. 
For  the  chief  of  the  expedition  the  governor  selected 
Gonzalo  Jimenez  de  Ouesada,  who  thus  passed  from  the 
position  of  chief  judicial  officer  to  be  the  military  leader 
of  an  expedition  that  was  destined  to  encounter  extra- 
ordinary difficulties. 

After  marching  several  days,  Ouesada  sent  forward  a 
small  party  to  the  Magdalena  River  to  receive  the  boats  ; 


126  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


but  of  the  six  boats  that  left  Santa  Marta  only  two  arrived. 
Of  the  others,  two  were  lost  off  the  coast,  attempting  to 
enter  the  river,  and  two  were  driven  into  the  bay  of  Carta- 
gena, where  the  crews  deserted  and  departed  for  Peru. 
By  the  efforts  of  Manjarres,  one  of  the  captains,  who  re- 
turned to  Santa  Marta,  three  boats  were  fitted  out  to  take 
the  place  of  those  that  had  been  lost.  They  entered  the 
Magdalena  River,  and  joined  the  two  that  had  preceded 
them  at  Malambo.  The  five  boats  then  ascended  the 
river,  and  were  received  by  Quesada  at  Sampollon. 
During  the  march  up  the  right  bank  of  the  river  the  soldiers 
on  the  land  encountered  very  grave  obstacles.  It  was 
necessary  to  cut  a way  through  the  forest  and  the  thickets 
of  the  jungle  ; and  the  men  in  the  boats  were  continually 
harassed  by  the  poisoned  arrow’s  of  the  Indians,  who,  in 
their  canoes,  svrarmed  about  the  boats  of  the  Spaniards. 
Many  of  Ouesada’s  men  had  fallen  ill,  and  a hundred  of 
them  died  during  the  first  few  w^eeks  of  the  march.  Having 
lost  many  of  their  personal  effects,  some  of  which  were  in 
the  boats  that  wTere  wrecked  off  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
the  soldiers  suffered  great  discomfort,  and  the  rapid  dis- 
appearance of  their  comrades  depressed  and  discouraged 
the  survivors.1 

As  they  ascended  the  river  the  native  inhabitants  be- 
came less  numerous  ; there  were  fewer  cultivated  fields, 
and,  consequently,  a smaller  stock  of  provisions  from  which 
to  draw.  The  men  who  went  in  advance  to  open  a way 
through  the  forest  often  required  eight  days  to  clear  a 
distance  that  could  be  traversed  in  a single  day.  Through- 
out the  journey  they  were  afflicted  by  a plague  of  ants, 
wasps,  mosquitoes,  and  various  other  insects  and  reptiles, 
and  the  unceasing  tropical  rain  gave  a finishing  touch  to 
their  misery.  In  wrant  of  other  food,  the  soldiers  began 
secretly  to  kill  their  horses,  and  distribute  the  flesh  among 
their  comrades.  Thinking  it  impossible  to  effect  the  con- 
quest he  had  in  mind  without  horses,  Quesada  ordered 

1 Piedrahita,  102  ; Markham,  The  Conquest  of  New  Granada , 119. 


OUESADA’S  EXPEDITION 


1 27 


that  all  dead  horses  should  be  immediately  thrown  into 
the  river,  hoping  by  this  method  to  prevent  their  destruc- 
tion for  food.  At  a camp  on  the  river  known  as  Tora,  in 
spite  of  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  procure  supplies, 
many  of  the  men  died  of  starvation  ; in  fact,  so  many 
perished  here  that  the  survivors  were  unable  to  bury  them, 
and  their  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  river.  Some,  in  a 
half-demented  state,  wandered  off  to  die  alone  in  the 
forest.1 

They  had  been  now  eight  months  on  the  march  ; half 
of  the  original  six  hundred  members  of  the  expedition  had 
perished  ; and  the  bravest  and  most  vigorous  captains, 
thinking  it  unwise  to  continue  the  journey,  counselled  a 
return  to  Santa  Marta.  This  was  the  critical  point  not 
only  in  the  career  of  Quesada,  but  also  in  the  campaign 
under  his  command.  His  reply  to  the  delegation  which 
communicated  to  him  the  views  of  his  followers  was  de- 
cisive, and  with  no  sign  of  vacillation.  He  told  them  that 
the  way  back,  and  not  the  way  forward,  led  to  perdition  ; 
that,  as  the  boats  would  not  contain  the  whole  company, 
those  who  were  left  behind  would  perish.  In  certain 
articles  discovered  among  the  Indians,  there  was  evidence 
of  a civilisation  more  advanced  than  any  that  had  appeared 
in  the  region  they  had  traversed.  It  was,  therefore,  clear 
that  this  civilisation  lay  before  them,  and  not  behind  them. 
He  had  ventured  all  his  property  in  preparations  to  dis- 
cover the  creators  and  bearers  of  this  civilisation,  and  he 
had  no  intention  to  abandon  his  undertaking  while  he 
lived.  His  firmness,  his  clear  vision,  and  his  unflinching 
courage  swept  away  the  doubts  from  many  minds,  and, 
although  a novice  in  military  command,  his  companions, 
many  of  them  experienced  soldiers,  bowed  to  his  decision. 
Isolated  in  the  wilderness,  and  practically  a law  unto  them- 
selves, they  might  have  deposed  him  and  put  a partisan 
of  their  opinion  in  his  place.  But  here,  and  throughout 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  a journey  that  severely  tested  the 

1 Piedrahita,  122. 


128  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


qualities  of  men,  Ouesada’s  superior  authority  was  never 
shaken.1 

Passing  into  the  river  Opon,  Quesada  soon  found  that 
the  water  was  too  shallow  for  his  boats,  and  he  was  obliged 
either  to  leave  the  sick  there,  or  send  them  back  to  Santa 
Marta.  He  chose  the  latter  course,  and  charged  Gallegos 
to  conduct  them  down  the  river.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
sixty  men  who  started  on  this  return  voyage,  only  the 
leader  reached  Santa  Marta.  All  the  others  perished, 
either  by  disease  or  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians. 

After  the  departure  of  Gallegos,  Quesada,  with  two 
hundred  men,  entered  upon  the  last  stage  of  his  march. 
The  ascent  of  the  mountains  which  lay  before  him  pre- 
sented difficulties  not  hitherto  encountered,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  it  offered  certain  compensating  advantages. 
As  the  troops  reached  the  higher  regions,  they  found  a 
climate  quite  unlike  that  under  which  they  had  suffered 
in  the  valley.  They  lost  their  appearance  of  pale  and 
weak  invalids,  colour  came  back  to  their  faces,  strength 
was  restored  to  their  arms,  and  they  became  animated  by 
the  spirit  of  sound  and  sane  men.2 

Between  thirty  and  forty  persons  had  been  lost  in  the 
mountains,  and  only  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  answered 
the  roll-call  at  the  end  of  the  journey.  These  surviving 
members  of  the  great  expedition  had  before  them  evidences 
of  civilisation  in  villages,  cultivated  fields,  and  well- 
travelled  roads,  instead  of  the  swamps,  thickets,  and  forests 
of  the  low  lands.  Of  the  sixty  horses  with  which  they  left 
the  lowlands  fifty-nine  reached  the  plateau.3 

1 Piedrahita,  105.  2 Groot,  i.  36. 

3 Piedrahita,  123-43. 

In  his  Conquest  of  New  Granada,  Sir  Clements  Markham  has  pre- 
sented a vivid  sketch  of  the  state  of  affairs  on  the  tableland  at  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards : “ The  fields,  with  their  growing 
crops,  stretched  for  leagues  around  the  Zipa’s  capital.  The  villagers 
were  all  at  work,  happy  and  contented.  The  lofty  houses  of  the 
Usaques,  scattered  here  and  there,  rising  out  of  clumps  of  trees,  en- 
livened the  landscape.  Over  the  mountains  trains  of  laden  wayfarers 
might  be  seen  passing  to  and  fro,  frequenters  of  the  distant  markets. 


OUESADA’S  EXPEDITION 


129 


III 

The  conquest  which  Quesada  was  now  prepared  to 
undertake  was  destined  to  be  the  third  effective  blow  aimed 
at  the  higher  forms  of  native  civilisation  in  America.  The 
Aztecs  in  Mexico  had  been  overthrown  by  Cortez  in  1519  ; 
and  Pizarro  had  destroyed  the  Inca  empire  in  1532.  There 
still  remained,  in  1536,  on  the  tableland  of  Bogota  and 
Tunja,  a cultivated  people  doomed  to  a destruction  quite 
as  complete  as  that  which  had  overwhelmed  the  civilisa- 
tion of  Mexico  or  Peru. 

The  Chibchas,  who  now  fell  under  the  destroying  hand 
of  the  Europeans,  occupied  the  territory  embraced  in  the 
modern  provinces  of  Ubate,  Chiquinquira,  Moniquira, 
Leyva,  Santa  Rosa,  and  Sogomoso,  an  area  of  about  six 
thousand  square  miles,  with  a population  of,  approxi- 
mately, a million  and  a quarter.  The  greater  part  of  this 
region  was  made  up  of  the  tableland  and  the  mountains, 
and,  by  reason  of  its  temperature,  had  only  the  products 
of  the  colder  European  countries.  Only  the  products  of 
the  lower  valleys  indicated  that  the  land  of  the  Chibchas 
lay  within  the  limits  of  the  tropics.  Through  the  per- 
sistent labour  required  for  their  support,  the  inhabitants 
attained  a degree  of  civilisation  unknown  to  the  lands 
where  nature  was  less  niggardly.1 

The  Chibchas’  worship  appears  to  have  been  directed 
to  objects  of  nature,  or  to  nature  as  comprehensive  of  the 
objective  universe.  They  were  thus  accustomed  to  make 
their  sacrifices  in  the  open  air,  and  at  certain  appointed 
places — as  in  lakes,  at  waterfalls,  and  on  high  rocks  or 

From  the  salt-mines  of  Nemocon  and  Zapaquira,  down  the  Opon  River  to 
the  market  on  the  Magdalena,  there  was  a ceaseless  flow  of  commerce. 
Cotton,  gold,  and  tropical  fruits  came  in  return,  coca  and  wood  for 
lances  came  from  the  eastern  forests,  while  the  products  of  the  Chibcha 
pottery  factories  and  cloth  industries  went  down  in  exchange”  (p.  126). 

1 See  Humboldt,  Description  du  plateau  de  Bogota,  in  Melanges  de 
Giologie  et  de  Physique  g&nhale  (Paris,  1854),  i.  114-49. 

VOL.  I. 


I 


1 3o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

cliffs.  Offerings  were  sometimes  made  to  the  earth,  the 
vessels  or  hollow  figures  used  to  receive  the  gifts  being 
buried  in  the  ground,  leaving  only  the  top  or  an  aperture 
in  the  upper  part  exposed.  The  most  noteworthy  cere- 
mony was  the  sacrifice  at  Lake  Guatavita.  Every  year, 
while  the  cacique  of  Guatavita  was  independent,  he  covered 
himself  with  turpentine,  and  spread  gold  dust  over  his 
body,  thus  making  it  resplendent  in  its  fresh  gilding. 
Then,  surrounded  by  priests,  he  caused  himself  to  be 
floated  on  a raft  to  a point  indicated  as  the  middle  of  the 
lake.  During  his  passage  to  this  spot,  a multitude  of  his 
subjects,  gathered  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  which  rose  like 
the  seats  of  an  amphitheatre,  joined  in  the  ceremony  with 
music  and  songs.  Having  arrived  at  the  prescribed  point, 
the  cacique  offered  sacrifice  by  dropping  gold,  emeralds, 
and  other  precious  objects  into  the  lake,  and  afterwards 
plunged  into  the  water,  offering  up  the  gilding  of  his  body 
to  nature,  whence  it  came,  while  the  surrounding  moun- 
tains echoed  the  applause  of  the  people.1 

Besides  the  worship  offered  in  the  midst  of  objects 
of  terrestrial  nature,  the  Chibchas  had  also  temples  in 
which  certain  religious  ceremonies  were  performed,  par- 
ticularly those  connected  with  the  worship  of  the  sun, 
which,  according  to  Sir  Clements  Markham,  was  “ the  real 
business  religion  of  the  Chibcha  people.”  2 The  most  im- 
portant of  the  Chibcha  temples  was  that  at  Sogamoso, 
near  Tunja.  “ The  priests,  called  Jeques,  had  dwellings 
near  the  temples,  and  they  had  schools  into  which  those 
destined  for  the  priesthood  entered  very  young,  for  a long 
and  careful  training  was  essential.  It  was  most  important 
that  the  neophytes  should  thoroughly  understand  the 

1 " Die  Chibchas  verehrten  Naturgegenstande,  besonders  Seeen, 
Wasserfalle,  Berge,  Grotten,  namentlich  bildeten  die  in  Bergkesseln 
verborgenen  Lagunen  vielbesuchte  kulturstatten,  denn  sie  besassen  einen 
offentlichen  Kultus  und  eine  abgeachlossene  erbliche  Priesterkaste.” 
Regel,  Fritz,  Kolumbien  (Berlin,  1900),  137.  On  the  sacrifices  in  the 
lake,  see  Temaux-Campans,  Essai  sur  Vancien  Cundinamarca,  47-50. 

2 The  Conquest  of  New  Granada,  27. 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  131 

principles  of  the  Chibcha  calendar,  which  was  rather  com- 
plicated, and  the  religious  system  which  was,  in  great  part, 
based  upon  it.”  1 The  sun  was  the  only  deity  to  which 
human  sacrifice  was  offered.  But  at  the  time  of  the 
Spanish  conquest,  the  Chibchas  were  disposed  to  accept 
substitutes  for  the  human  victim.2 

The  Chibcha  country,  at  the  time  of  Quesada’s  arrival, 
was  governed  by  chiefs  who  appeared  to  be  independent 
of  one  another.  The  southern  part  of  this  country,  the 
district  about  Bogota,  was  controlled  by  a chief  called  the 
Zipa,  whose  capital  was  Muequeta  ; while  a chief  called 
the  Zaque  ruled  the  district  about  the  town  of  Tunja, 
which  was  his  capital.  These  two  chiefs  were  assisted  by 
subordinate  provincial  chiefs,  called  Usaques.  Another 
important  officer  was  the  high  priest  of  the  temple  at 
Sogamoso,  called  Iraca,  who  represented  the  whole  nation, 
and  was  elected  by  four  chiefs  alternately  from  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  two  districts.3 

This  apparent  division  of  the  Chibcha  people  was  prob- 
ably only  a temporary  state  of  things  ; for  there  were 
other  chiefs  who  had  been  independent,  but  who  had  fallen 
under  the  domination  of  more  successful  leaders,  and 
Acosta  ventures  the  remark  that,  but  for  the  arrival  of 
the  Spaniards,  the  Zipa  who  ruled  in  the  district  of  Bogota 
would  have  become  the  master  of  the  whole  territory  of 
the  Chibchas.4 

The  government  of  the  Zipa  was  absolute,  or  despotic, 
and  his  power  descended  not  to  his  son,  but  to  the  eldest 

1 Markham,  The  Conquest  of  New  Granada,  27. 

2 Ibid.,  28.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  present  writing  to  render 
an  extensive  account  of  the  Chibchas,  but  much  information  concern- 
ing their  history  and  institutions  may  be  found  in  the  following  works  : 
Zerda,  El  Dorado,  estudio  historico,  etnografico  y arqueologico  de  los 
Chibchas  (Bogota,  1883)  ; Ortega,  Historia  general  de  los  Chibchas 
(Bogota,  1891)  ; Restrepo,  Los  Chibchas  antes  de  la  conquista  espanola 
(Bogota,  1895).  See  also  Oviedo,  Simon,  Castellanos,  Piedrahita, 
Zamora,  and  Rodriguez  Fresle. 

3 Markham,  The  Conquest  of  New  Granada,  40. 

1 Nueva  Granada,  189. 


132  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

son  of  his  sister.  For  his  district  he  was  law-maker,  judge, 
and  military  commander.  The  laws  and  customs,  which 
he  promulgated  or  recognised,  permitted  great  laxity  with 
respect  to  certain  acts,  while  they  imposed  horrible  penal- 
ties for  others,  and  this  fact  indicates  the  degree  of 
cultivation  attained  by  the  Chibchas  ; for  as  a people 
advances  towards  enlightenment,  it  ceases  to  go  to 
these  extremes.  The  chief  maintained  a large  number 
of  concubines,  but  custom  recognised  only  one  woman 
as  his  wife.  Members  of  other  classes  were  subject 
to  a similar  rule.  Men  who  showed  themselves  to  be 
cowards  in  war  were  condemned  to  wear  the  dress  of 
women,  and  occupy  themselves  for  a specified  time  with 
women’s  work. 

The  Chibchas  had  no  animals  for  use  in  their  agricul- 
tural work  ; and,  having  no  iron,  their  implements  were 
made  of  wood  or  stone.  Their  geographical  position  was 
fortunate,  in  that  they  could  command  without  great 
difficulty  the  products  of  three  zones.  On  the  highlands 
they  cultivated  potatoes  and  maize  ; from  the  lowlands 
and  deep  valleys  they  might  obtain  whatever  was  pro- 
duced in  the  tropics;  and  from  the  middle  region,  pro- 
ducts peculiar  to  the  temperate  zone. 

A severe  burden  is  sometimes  imposed  upon  semi- 
civilised  peoples  by  the  necessity  of  carrying  salt  from  the 
ocean  to  their  centres  of  population  in  the  interior.  The 
Chibchas  were  able  to  avoid  this  by  availing  themselves 
of  the  salt  derived  from  the  salt  springs  of  Zipaquiri  and 
Nemocon  ; and  the  salt  here  produced  served  not  only 
for  their  domestic  use,  but  was  also  their  most  important 
article  of  exchange,  with  which  they  obtained  gold  and 
other  commodities  wanting  in  their  territory.  The  pro- 
gress which  they  had  made  in  industry  is  indicated  by 
their  skill  in  spinning  and  weaving  cotton,  in  using  gold 
for  forming  figures  of  animals,  in  making  various  kinds  of 
ornaments  for  their  persons,  and  in  carving  and  engraving 
fine  stones.  Besides  using  gold  in  their  arts,  they  em- 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  133 

ployed  it  also  as  money,  which  consisted  of  disks  cast  in 
moulds. 

At  various  places  the  Chibchas  held  fairs  for  the  pro- 
motion of  trade  between  their  different  provinces,  and 
with  the  inhabitants  of  the  lowlands,  or  paises  calientes. 
They  exchanged  at  these  fairs  whatever  products  were 
available,  such  as  salt,  gold,  emeralds,  cloth,  and  jewels 
of  various  kinds.  Among  other  things  they  obtained 
macaws  and  parrots,  which  were  brought  up  from  the 
lowlands  ; and  as  soon  as  these  birds  had  learned  a few 
words,  they  employed  them  in  sacrifices,  as  the  most 
fitting  substitutes  for  their  ancient  human  victims. 


IV 

Quesada,  having  given  his  soldiers  several  days  of  rest 
from  the  exertion  of  the  ascent,  passed  on  towards  the 
south,  through  Moniquira,  Susa,  and  Tinjoca.  He  arrived 
at  Guacheta  (San  Gregorio)  on  March  12, 1537.  On  entering 
the  territory  of  the  Chibchas,  he  recognised  the  weakness 
of  his  troop  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  men  in  com- 
parison with  the  force  that  might  be  raised  against  him 
from  a population  of  a million  or  more.  He  therefore 
counselled  his  followers  to  be  especially  careful  to  maintain 
friendly  relations  with  the  natives  ; for,  if  they  were  pro- 
voked by  ill-treatment  to  a general  uprising,  they  might 
easily  make  it  impossible  for  any  Spaniard  to  escape  alive. 
The  effect  of  this  policy  was  seen  at  Lenguasaque,  where 
the  inhabitants  received  the  Spaniards  at  the  doors  of 
their  houses,  and  offered  them  whatever  they  possessed. 
Quesada  determined  that  no  one  should  depart  from  this 
policy  with  impunity.  A Spanish  soldier  who  had  taken 
blankets  from  Indians  by  force  was  condemned  to  death 
and  executed.  This  extreme  severity  was  not  approved 
by  the  captains  and  the  priests  ; for  while  more  thoroughly 
civilised  persons  might  have  been  convinced  by  it  that  the 


134  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Spaniards  were  impartial  and  just,  it  only  led  the  Indians 
to  see  that  the  Spaniards  were  subject  to  death  like  other 
persons,  and  were  not  the  immortal  children  of  the  sun.1 

It  is  not  clear  that  this  notion  had  any  influence  on 
the  Indians  ; still,  when  the  Spaniards  were  near  Nemocon, 
they  were  attacked  by  a large  body  of  the  natives.  At 
this  time  the  soldiers  were  moving  in  two  divisions.  The 
division  attacked  was  composed  of  the  sick,  who  were 
escorted  by  a troop  of  cavalry.  This  part  of  the  force 
was  some  distance  behind  the  rest  when  the  attack  was 
made  ; but  a part  of  the  advanced  guard  was  immediately 
sent  back  to  reinforce  the  rear  division.  The  conflict  was 
then  speedily  ended  by  the  complete  overthrow  of  the 
natives,  who  were  routed  with  great  loss,  and  who  threw 
away  in  their  flight  their  arms,  and  even  the  mummy  of 
their  ancient  leader,  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to 
carry  into  battle.  This  was  not  a victory  of  arms  merely  ; 
the  Indians  were  more  or  less  cowed  by  their  superstitious 
fear  of  the  Spaniards.  While,  therefore,  as  Quesada  pro- 
ceeded, some  of  the  inhabitants,  incited  by  their  chiefs, 
assumed  a hostile  attitude,  others  brought  venison  and 
other  kinds  of  food,  and  various  other  gifts ; and  to  those 
who  appeared  to  be  friendly  the  Spaniards  distributed 
their  few  remaining  articles  of  Spanish  origin,  which  had 
been  brought  as  diplomatic  peace-offerings. 

When  Quesada  arrived  at  Muequeta  he  found  that 
the  chief  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  had  fled,  and  that 
they  had  not  left  the  abundant  booty  which  he  had  ex- 
pected to  obtain.  From  this  point  he  sent  out  small 
scouting -parties  to  get  information  concerning  the  sur- 
rounding country.  One  went  towards  the  south  under 
Captain  Cespedes,  and  one  towards  the  west  under  Captain 
San  Martin.  San  Martin  descended  the  western  slope  of 

1 A list  of  the  men  who  entered  the  territory  of  the  Chibchas  with 
Gonzalo  Jimenez  de  Quesada  is  found  in  Juaquin  Acosta’s  Compendio 
historico  del  Descubrimienio  y Colonizacidn  de  la  Nueva  Granada  en 
el  siglo  ddcimo  sexto,  420-8. 


OUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  135 

the  Andes,  but  soon  returned  because  his  small  force  was 
not  able  to  defend  itself  against  the  Indians  he  encoun- 
tered. Taking  advantage  of  the  knowledge  gained  by 
the  exploring  parties,  Quesada  proceeded  southward  to 
Tunja,  where  he  imprisoned  the  chief,  and  obtained  gold, 
silver,  and  emeralds  worth  about  half  a million  dollars. 
He  wished  to  increase  the  amount  of  this  booty  by  causing 
Quimuinchateca,  the  chief,  to  be  ransomed,  but  with 
respect  to  all  propositions  concerning  this  subject,  the 
chief  maintained  a dignified  silence.1 

From  Tunja  the  Spaniards  set  out  in  September  1537 
in  quest  of  the  riches  which  they  had  heard  were  to  be 
found  in  the  temple  of  Sogamoso.  Before  they  reached 
the  residence  of  the  chief,  Tundama,  they  received  a mes- 
sage from  him  and  a small  present  of  gold.  The  message 
informed  the  Spaniards  that  the  cacique  was  gathering 
up  the  available  gold,  and  that  he  would  send  eight  loads 
of  it  immediately,  and  come  in  person  to  present  it  to  them. 
The  Spaniards  waited  a day  for  the  promised  treasure, 
and  during  this  time  the  cacique  collected  it  and  carried 
it  away  to  a place  in  the  high  mountains,  where  it  would 
be  impossible  for  the  invaders  to  get  it. 

Failing  at  this  point,  the  Spaniards  undertook  an  ex- 
pedition to  the  valley  where  stood  the  famous  temple  of 
Sogamoso,  the  treasures  of  which  had  excited  the  cupidity 
of  Quesada  and  his  associates.  The  Indians  attempted 
to  resist  the  advance  of  the  Spaniards,  but  on  the  level 
floor  of  the  valley  the  horses  could  be  used  with  great 
advantage,  and  the  charge  of  the  cavalry  filled  the  natives 
with  a new  terror,  and  scattered  them  in  hopeless  defeat. 
The  soldiers  were  naturally  eager  to  take  possession  of 
the  gold  and  emeralds  with  which  the  temple  was  adorned. 
They  entered  at  night  with  torches,  when  the  feather- 
grass decorations  caught  fire,  and  the  whole  structure  was 
consumed.  In  traditions  concerning  Sogamoso  we  have 
much  exaggeration ; but  in  the  exaggeration  itself 

1 Piedrahita,  lib.  v.  caps,  i.-iii. 


r 36  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

there  is  an  intimation  and  certain  evidence  of  the  wealth 
and  importance  of  the  temple  which  was  thus  unfortu- 
nately destroyed.  Its  columns  of  wood  were  so  great  that 
four  men  with  arms  extended  could  not  reach  around  one 
of  them,  and  the  chroniclers  were  especially  impressed 
with  the  labour  and  the  time  which  ust  have  been  re- 
quired to  bring  them  from  the  forests  at  the  foot  of  the 
cordillera.  They,  moreover,  solemnly  reported  that  the 
mass  of  material  in  the  structure  was  so  great  that  the 
fire  continued  to  burn  in  the  ruins  for  six  years.1 

The  day  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  Quesada 
and  his  followers  returned  to  Tunja,  and  joined  the  soldiers 
who  had  been  left  there  to  guard  the  booty.  Shortly  after 
his  arrival,  Quesada  liberated  the  chief  whom  he  had  im- 
prisoned, and  undertook  a punitive  expedition,  as  it  was 
called,  against  Tundama  for  the  offence  of  having  sought 
to  prevent  the  invaders  from  carrying  off  his  property. 
Then  followed  an  expedition  into  the  rich  valley  of  Neyva  ; 
but  so  much  suffering  and  so  little  success  attended  this 
undertaking  that  the  Spaniards  called  this  region  the  valley 
of  sadness.  The  hostile  attitude  of  the  Indians,  added  jjto 
the  other  inconveniences,  persuaded  them  to  leave  the 
hot  country  and  return  to  the  tableland,  or  the  planicie, 
of  Bogota.  Before  undertaking  any  other  campaigns,  they 
proceeded  to  distribute  the  treasure  which  they  had  already 
accumulated  in  the  land  of  the  Chibchas.  The  king’s 
fifth  amounted  to  forty  thousand  dollars  of  fine  gold,  three 
hundred  and  sixty-two  emeralds,  and,  besides,  a certain 
amount  of  unrefined  gold.  For  the  purposes  of  distribu- 
tion the  whole  remaining  sum  was  divided  into  portions, 
each  of  which  was  equivalent  to  five  hundred  pesos,  and 
of  these  the  foot-soldiers  received  one,  the  cavalrymen  two, 
the  officers  four,  Quesada  seven,  and  nine  were  set  apart 
for  Governo  Lugo.  This  last  amount  Quesada  took  for 

1 Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  ii.  195-8;  Groot,  Hisloria 
de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  54,  55  ; Piedrahita,  lib.  v.  cap.  v. ; Vergara, 
Hist,  de  la  lit.  en  Nueva  Granada,  13. 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  137 

himself  when  he  learned  that  Lugo  was  dead.  To  sup- 
pose that  this  amount,  which  was  publicly  distributed, 
comprised  all  the  treasure  that  was  collected  is  to  presume 
a somewhat  astonishing  degree  of  honesty  in  those  who 
seemed  to  have  no  scruples  about  taking  any  valuable 
thing  wherever  they  could  find  it.  Moreover,  the  amounts 
disposed  of  later,  particularly  by  Quesada  after  his  return 
to  Europe,  would  indicate  that  in  the  process  of  collecting 
the  gold  during  the  various  pillaging  enterprises,  the  offi- 
cers and  men  had  withheld  not  a little  of  it  from  the 
general  store  for  their  personal  use.1 

The  inhabitants  of  the  region  about  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Bogota  were  not  disposed  to  submit  to  the 
Spaniards.  The  chief,  Thisquesaza,  whose  camp  was  near 
Facatativa,  directed  the  attack  against  them,  although 
he  did  not  appear  in  person  as  the  leader.  Quesada  finally 
found  it  necessary  to  accept  the  challenge  involved  in 
Thisquesaza’s  attitude,  and  determined  to  take  him  by 
surprise.  Therefore,  having  marched  all  night,  he  fell 
upon  him  early  in  the  morning,  destroyed  or  scattered  all 
his  forces,  while  the  chief  fled  and  perished  during  his  flight. 
The  Spaniards  discovered  only  a small  amount  of  gold, 
but  an  abundance  of  food  and  a large  supply  of  material 
for  clothing.  After  this  defeat  the  Chibchas  thought  it 
advisable  to  abandon  their  unfriendly  attitude,  and  even 
sought  an  alliance  with  the  victors,  when  they  saw  them- 
selves hard  pressed  by  the  Panches.  Through  this  alliance 
the  Panches  were  overthrown  in  an  encounter  which  was 
known  as  the  battle  of  Tocarema,  and  by  this  severe  blow 
to  their  fortunes  they  were  persuaded  to  seek  the  goodwill 

1 Piedrahita,  lib.  v.  cap.  v.-vi.  Ternaux-Compans,  Essai  sur 
I’ancien  Cundinamarca,  95,  affirms  that  the  part  set  aside  as  the  king’s 
fifth  amounted  to  46,000  castillanos  de  oro  and  360  emeralds,  and  that 
an  equal  sum  was  then  set  apart  to  be  distributed  by  three  arbitrators 
to  those  persons  who  had  especially  distinguished  themselves.  He 
finds,  moreover,  that  in  addition  to  the  512  castillanos  de  oro  fino,  the 
ordinary  soldier  received  “ 100  castillans  d' or  de  bas  aloi  ” and  five 
emeralds,  while  twice  these  amounts  were  allotted  to  the  mounted  men. 


138  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

of  the  foreigners.  They  therefore  sent  messengers  to 
them  with  presents  of  fruit  and  gold,  and,  under  Quesada’s 
direction,  consented  to  submit  to  the  Chibcha  chief. 

The  removal  of  all  effective  opposition  left  Quesada 
and  his  associates  only  the  task  of  collecting  the  treasure 
which  the  chief,  or  zipa,  was  reported  to  possess.  The  first 
difficulty  encountered  was  that  of  discovering  where  it 
was  hidden  ; and,  in  order  that  the  zipa,  Sagipa,  might 
be  induced  to  make  known  the  place  of  concealment,  he 
was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  The  Spaniards,  moreover, 
fancied  they  might  receive  a ransom  like  that  which  Atahu- 
alpa  had  offered  to  Pizarro,  and  they  were  therefore  not 
in  a mood  to  accept  the  statement  of  Sagipa  when  he  pro- 
tested that  the  treasure  which  they  expected  did  not  exist. 
When  he  affirmed  that  the  zipa  had  distributed  this 
treasure  among  his  vassals  on  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  that  the  vassals  would  doubtless  bring  it  together  and 
offer  it  to  ransom  him,  the  Spaniards  believed  that  the 
prize  was  about  to  fall  into  their  hands.  Rumours  indi- 
cated that  gold  was  brought  from  day  to  day  to  be  offered 
for  the  release  of  the  chief,  but  those  persons  who  expected 
to  receive  it  had  no  knowledge  that  justified  these  rumours. 
Sagipa  explained  this  state  of  things  by  suggesting  that 
two  subordinate  chiefs,  who  were  his  enemies,  and  who 
had  denounced  him  as  a usurper,  had  probably  prevailed 
on  his  vassals  to  deliver  it  to  them.  The  two  persons  thus 
accused  were  immediately  beheaded  ; still  the  gold  was 
not  forthcoming,  and  the  ill-fated  zipa  was  subjected  to 
outrageous  tortures,  in  order  that  he  might  be  induced  to 
reveal  the  secret  which  it  was  supposed  would  give  the 
Spaniards  access  to  the  desired  treasures.  He  suffered 
the  agony  of  these  tortures  for  weeks,  but  finally  succumbed 
to  them  without  allowing  a single  word  to  escape  from  his 
lips.1 

1 Herrera’s  account  of  this  event  is  as  follows:  “ Pasado  el  termino 
y no  hibiendo  dado  mas  de  cuatro  mil  pesos,  los  soldados  insolentes  y 
codiciosos  por  la  fama  de  los  grandes  tesoros  del  Bogota,  hicieron 
requerimiento  a Gonzalo  Ximenes  para  que  pusiesc  en  hierros  & Sagipa, 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  139 

After  several  other  more  or  less  unimportant  campaigns 
against  the  Indians,  Quesada  finally  made  use  of  some  of 
the  friendly  natives,  and  ordered  a number  of  houses  to 
be  built  on  a site  selected  on  the  plain  of  Bogota.  The 
Spaniards  occupied  the  place,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
Santa  Fe,  while  the  conquered  country  was  called  the  New 
Kingdom  of  Granada.1 

Having  thus  made  the  beginnings  of  a new  town,  Que- 
sada prepared  to  return  to  Spain  for  the  purpose  of  solicit- 
ing the  governorship  of  the  colony,  and  of  obtaining 
supplies.2 

V 

Before  Quesada’s  departure,  he  learned  of  the  presence 
of  Benalcazar  and  Federmann  in  that  region ; and  a 
little  later  the  three  leaders  were  assembled  at  Santa  Fe, 
each  with  a company  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  men. 
Quesada  experienced  a degree  of  anxiety  concerning  the 
coming  of  these  two  explorers,  lest,  with  their  united 
forces  superior  to  his  following,  they  should  attempt  to 
deprive  him  of  the  advantages  of  his  discovery.  But  in 

y le  diese  tormento,  y porque  no  lo  hacia  cntendiendo  ser  injusto,  las 
murmuraciones  y quejas  de  los  soldados  eran  grandes,  diciendo,  que  se 
entendia  con  Sagipa,  y de  nuevo  volvieron  a los  requerimientos  y 
protestas  y dieron  poder  a Geronimo  de  Ansa  para  que  pusiese  demanda 
en  juicio,  y Gonzalo  Ximenes  nombro  por  defensor  de  Sagipa  su 
hermano  Hernan  Perez  de  Quesada,  con  juramento  de  que  haria  bien 
su  oficio ; y oidas  las  partes,  se  llego  al  tormento  y alii  barbaramente 
le  mataron  sin  que  descubriese  nada.” — Dec.  VI.  lib.  vi.  An  account 
of  these  events  is  given  by  Padre  Simon,  Las  conquistas  de  Tierra 
Firme,  ii.  211-23. 

1 Different  dates  in  the  year  1538  are  given  for  the  foundation  of 
Bogota.  Mass  was  celebrated  for  the  first  time  in  the  new  church 
on  the  6th  of  August,  and  this  date  is  sometimes  regarded  as  that  of 
the  foundation  of  the  town  (Joaquin  Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  243). 
Vergara  y Velasco  holds  to  the  earlier  date  of  July  20  ( Capitulos  de 
una  liistoria  civil  y militar  de  Colombia,  6-16).  For  a general  view 
of  the  country  occupied  by  Quesada,  see  Memoria  descriptiva  del  pais 
de  Santa  F&  de  Bogota,  by  Jose  Maria  Salazar,  in  Caldas,  Semanario 
de  la  Nueva  Granada,  385-410  ; Regel,  Dr.  Fritz,  Kolumbien  (Berlin, 
1900),  44,  61,  245. 

a Piedrahita,  lib.  vi.  cap.  4. 


140  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

the  negotiations  undertaken  to  adjust  their  affairs,  Benal- 
cazar,  who  had  advanced  northward  along  the  left  bank  of 
the  Magdalena  River,  after  he  had  taken  Quito,  requested 
only  recognition  of  his  governorship  of  Popayan  ; while 
Federmann,  who  had  proceeded  from  the  coast  of  Vene- 
zuela, by  a three  years’  journey  in  the  wilderness,  asked 
ten  thousand  dollars  for  himself,  and,  for  his  men,  the  en- 
joyment of  the  rights  of  conquistadores,  together  with  the 
privilege  of  joining  the  ranks  of  Quesada’s  company. 
These  requests  were  granted,  and  thus  whatever  advan- 
tages accrued  to  Quesada’s  men  were  to  be  shared  by  those 
who  were  added  to  their  number  from  the  followers  of 
Federmann.  The  latter  were  to  be  free  to  remain  in  the 
country  after  the  decision  of  the  court  respecting  the 
governorship,  or  to  return  to  Venezuela.  The  agreement 
establishing  these  provisions  was  dated  March  17,  1539. 
A second  agreement  between  Quesada  and  Federmann  was 
formed  somewhat  more  than  a month  later,  on  April  29. 
In  the  negotiations  leading  to  this  agreement,  Federmann 
showed  himself  less  easily  satisfied  than  earlier.  He  de- 
manded further  personal  advantages.  The  leaders  should 
make  the  journey  to  the  court  together.  Quesada  should 
cede  to  Federmann  the  district  of  Tunja,  and  grant  to  him 
and  to  the  two  servants  who  were  to  accompany  him  to 
Spain  a certain  participation  in  the  distribution  of  the 
booty.  During  these  negotiations  two  small  vessels  were 
built  on  the  Magdalena  River  at  Guataqui.  In  these, 
Quesada,  Federmann,  and  Benalcazar,  with  a few  fol- 
lowers, proceeded  down  the  river  to  the  coast,  and  at 
Cartagena  chartered  a vessel  for  the  voyage  to  Spain.  In 
accordance  with  the  agreement,  Feman  Perez  de  Quesada, 
a brother  of  Jimenez  de  Quesada,  was  left  at  Bogota  as 
the  deputy  of  the  discoverer  and  head  of  the  colony.1 

1 Piedrahita,  lib.  vi.  cap.  v.  The  history  of  Quesada’s  journey  and 
the  exploration  of  the  region  of  Bogotd  is  given  in  a very  elaborate 
form  in  Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  ii.  67-265.  An  account 
somewhat  less  extensive  is  found  in  Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada, 
i.  30-73.  Rodriguez  Fresle,  Conquisia  y Descubrimienlo  del  Nuevo 


QUESADA’S  EXPEDITION  141 

Each  of  the  three  leaders  who  met  on  the  plateau  of 
Bogota,  and  who  went  together  to  Spain,  wished  to  be 
appointed  governor  of  the  newly-discovered  province. 
When,  however,  Benalcazar  found  that  he  might  be 
appointed  governor  of  Popayan,  he  limited  his  pretension 
to  this  position.  Quesada  and  Federmann  remained  as 
rival  candidates,  but  Federmann’s  prospects  ceased  very 
early  to  be  hopeful.  Serious  charges  were  made  against 
him  on  account  of  his  avarice  and  cruelty,  and  when  he 
found  that  he  had  no  hope  of  support  from  the  Spaniards, 
he  turned  to  the  emperor,  who  was  at  that  time  in  Flan- 
ders. Here  his  prospects  depended  especially  on  Bartholo- 
maus  Welser,  who  was  then  at  the  court.  The  representa- 
tive of  the  Welser  company,  moved  by  the  numerous 
charges  that  had  been  brought  against  him,  and  by  the 
conviction  that  he  had  retained  funds,  or  spoils  of  the  ex- 
pedition, which  belonged  to  the  company,  finally  caused 
his  arrest  and  imprisonment.  This  event  was  followed  by 
a controversy  as  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Flemish  court 

Reino  de  Granada  (Bogota,  1890),  25-32,  gives  a list  of  the  soldiers 
who  accompanied  the  three  leaders.  See  also  Haebler,  Ueberseeische 
Unternehmungen  der  Welser,  257-61  ; Piedrahita,  97-107;  and  Mark- 
ham, The  Conquest  of  New  Granada,  110-44. 

The  book  written  by  Rodriguez  Fresle  is  sometimes  referred  to  as 
El  Carnero.  The  author  was  born  in  Bogota,  April  25,  1566.  He  was 
for  a period  in  the  service  of  Alonso  Perez  de  Salazar,  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  audiencia  of  his  native  city,  and  he  accompanied  him  to  Spain 
when  Salazar  was  promoted  to  be  fiscal  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies. 

His  patron  died,  however,  six  months  after  his  appointment,  and 
Rodriguez  Fresle  was  left,  as  he  said,  como  hijo  de  oidor  muerto.  He 
was  left  in  poverty,  and  remained  six  years  in  Spain.  After  his  return 
to  New  Granada,  he  was  engaged  in  agriculture ; but  we  have  very 
little  information  concerning  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  the  time 
of  his  death  is  unknown.  Vergara  says  ; “ The  useful  occupation  of 
his  old  age  was  that  of  writing  his  chronicle,  which  he  began  on 
the  day  on  which  he  completed  his  seventieth  year.”  His  book 
became  widely  known  through  many  manuscript  copies,  and  it  was 
not  printed  until  more  than  two  centuries  after  it  was  written.  Vergara 
also  refers  to  the  author’s  style  as  “ natural  y correcto,  animadisimo 
a las  veces  : no  writer  of  his  time  excelled  him  in  the  local  flavour  which 
he  knew  how  to  give  to  his  lively  narrative  ” (Vergara,  Historia  de  la 
liter atura  en  Nueva  Granada,  82-91). 


142  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

in  the  case,  and  the  final  removal  of  the  prisoner  to  Spain. 
Here,  in  the  course  of  his  defence,  Federmann  uttered 
certain  charges  against  the  members  of  the  Welser  com- 
pany, but,  before  the  case  was  concluded,  he  died  in 
February  1542.  After  his  death,  his  statement  was  pub- 
lished, in  which  he  had  affirmed  that  the  charges  made  by 
him  were  false,  and  were  uttered  as  an  act  of  revenge. 

Although  Benalcazar  and  Federmann  were  out  of  the 
contest  for  the  governorship  of  the  newly-discovered 
province  of  New  Granada,  there  were  others  whose  pre- 
tensions were  not  withdrawn.  The  prize  fell  to  Luis  de 
Lugo,  a son  of  the  former  governor  of  Santa  Marta,  and 
under  him  the  territory  of  Santa  Marta  and  the  pro- 
vince of  New  Granada  were  united.  Bogota,  favoured 
by  its  climate,  outgrew  Santa  Marta,  and  in  course  of 
time  became  the  seat  of  the  chief  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
power  in  this  part  of  the  continent. 


CHAPTER  IX 


EXPLORATION  AND  SETTLEMENT  IN  THE 
INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA 

I.  Vadillo’s  expedition  to  the  Cauca  valley.  II.  Andagoya’s  gover- 
norship and  Robledo’s  explorations.  III.  The  founding  of 
Timan&.  IV.  Perez  de  Quesada’s  search  for  El  Dorado.  V.  Luis 
de  Lugo  governor.  VI.  Benalc&zar,  Heredia,  Armendariz,  and 
the  audiencia  of  Bogota. 


I 

Besides  the  expeditions  which  the  historian  is  justified 
in  emphasizing  because  of  their  permanent  results,  there 
are  many  others,  the  record  of  which  properly  occupies 
only  an  inconspicuous  place  in  history.  To  the  latter 
class  belongs  the  expedition  which  left  San  Sebastian  de 
Uraba  a short  time  before  the  end  of  1537,  or  in  the  early 
part  of  1538,  under  the  direction  of  Juan  de  Vadillo,  with 
Francisco  Cesar  as  lieutenant.  Vadillo  was  a member  of 
the  audiencia  of  Santo  Domingo,  and  his  conduct  as  visi- 
tador  was  not  less  scandalous  than  that  of  Governor 
Heredia,  whom  he  had  been  authorised  to  bring  to  trial. 
In  the  meantime  the  Licentiate  Santa  Cruz  was  appointed 
to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  governorship  of  Cartagena  caused 
by  the  removal  of  Heredia,  and  he  was  commissioned  at 
the  same  time  to  hold  the  residencia  of  Juan  de  Vadillo. 
But  before  the  arrival  of  Santa  Cruz,  Vadillo  had  departed 
from  San  Sebastian  for  the  Cauca  valley.  The  members 
of  this  expedition  had  the  usual  experience  of  members 
of  exploring  companies  in  the  sixteenth  century.  There 
was  lack  of  food  ; disease  carried  off  many  persons  ; and 

the  hostility  of  the  Indians  was  a continual  annoyance 

143 


i44  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  danger.  At  Cori,  in  the  valley  of  the  Cauca,  the  ex- 
pedition lost  by  the  death  of  Francisco  Cesar  its  most 
noteworthy  member,  who,  as  Acosta  says,  “ only  wanted 
another  field  and  better  fortune  in  order  to  have  become 
one  of  the  most  illustrious  con quist adores.”  1 

This  loss  plunged  the  camp  into  profound  grief  and 
anxiety  ; the  soldiers  asked  to  be  led  back  to  the  coast  ; 
and  Vadillo  found  himself  obliged  to  face  two  disagreeable 
alternatives.  If  he  turned  back  he  would  be  compelled 
to  undergo  again  the  hardships  through  which  they  had 
passed,  with  only  the  prospect  of  a trial  and  imprisonment 
on  arriving  at  Cartagena.  Before  him  lay  a region  which 
had  already  been  overrun  and  pillaged  by  the  Spaniards, 
and  which,  consequently,  offered  nothing  to  satisfy  the 
cupidity  of  his  soldiers.  The  troops  of  Benalcazar  had 
descended  the  valley  as  far  as  the  Rio  de  la  Vieja,  and 
where  they  had  been  there  was  nothing  left  for  a sub- 
sequent spoiler. 

Vadillo’s  expedition  reached  Cali  somewhat  more  than 
a year  after  its  departure  from  San  Sebastian.  About 
half  of  the  men  had  perished  ; and  now,  when  he  wished 
to  take  possession  of  the  country  he  had  explored,  the 
survivors  abandoned  him.  The  small  amount  of  treasure 
which  they  had  collected  and  were  prepared  to  distribute 
was  not  to  be  found  ; and  it  was  thought  that  Vadillo  had 
concealed  it,  but  the  real  thief  was  discovered  later.  Under 
suspicion,  deserted  by  his  soldiers,  and  with  much  ground 
for  bewailing  his  fortune,  he  proceeded  alone  to  Popayan. 
From  Popayan  he  passed  to  Panama,  where  he  was  ar- 
rested, taken  to  Cartagena,  and  subsequently  to  Spain. 
He  died  in  poverty  in  Seville  before  the  trial  of  the  case 
against  him  was  concluded.  The  soldiers  of  Vadillo  re- 
mained in  the  Cauca  valley,  where  they  found  colonies 
already  established  by  Aldana  and  Robledo.  Robledo 
made  an  excursion  towards  the  west,  but  it  had  no  favour- 
able result  on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians. 

1 Nueva  Granada,  257. 


INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA  145 

Having  returned  to  the  valley  of  the  Cauca,  he  founded 
the  town  of  Cartago  in  1540. 1 

Pedro  Cieza  de  Leon,  who  was  a member  of  the  colony 
settled  at  Cartago,  has  left  an  account  of  certain  details 
relating  to  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  region  where  the 
town  was  established.  They  cultivated  the  soil,  raising 
maize,  yuca,  and  other  food  plants,  as  well  as  various  kinds 
of  fruit.  But  they  were  still  cannibals,  and  in  some  of 
their  villages  they  had  cages  constructed  of  bamboo  in 
which  they  kept  and  fattened  their  prisoners  who  were 
destined  to  be  eaten.  They  had  great  wooden  idols,  with 
faces  turned  towards  the  east,  before  which  they  made 
human  sacrifices.  They  had  gold,  extracted  salt  from  the 
water  of  salt  springs,  and  used  it  in  trading  with  their 
neighbours.  These  and  other  characteristics  of  the  natives 
of  this  part  of  the  valley  reveal  a strange  mixture  of  the 
features  of  civilisation  and  savagism.2 

In  this  period,  1538-41,  several  other  towns  were 
established  in  the  central  and  western  part  of  the  country. 
Villaviciosa,  or  San  Juan  de  Pasto,  was  founded  in  the 
valley  of  Yacuanquer,  but  somewhat  later  it  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  valley  of  Thris.  Anserma  and  Santa  Cruz  de 
Mompox  were  also  established  in  these  years.3 


II 

At  this  point  a new  character  appears  on  the  scene  in 
the  person  of  Andagoya.  He  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Alava,  and  arrived  at  Darien  with  Pedrarias  near  the  end 
of  July  1514,  enjoying  whatever  prestige  belonged  to  him 
as  the  son  of  an  hidalgo.  After  the  death  of  Vasco  Nunez 
de  Balboa,  he  went  to  Panama  with  Governor  Pedrarias, 


1 Piedrahita,  lib.  iv.  cap.  ii. 

2 Pedro  Cieza  de  Leon,  Crdnica  del  Peril , cap.  viii.,  ix.,  xxiv.  ; 
Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  264. 

3 Details  concerning  the  founding  of  these  towns  may  be  found  in 
Cieza  de  Leon,  Crdnica  del  Peril,  cap.  xiv.,  xv.,  xvi.,  xxxiii. 

VOL.  I. 


K 


1 46  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  received  a repartimiento  of  Indians.  He  became  a 
regidor  of  Panama,  participated  in  various  expeditions, 
and  in  1522  was  made  inspector-general  of  the  Indians 
on  the  Isthmus.  Through  later  expeditions,  in  which  he 
held  the  chief  command,  he  obtained  definite  information 
concerning  Peru  ; and  to  this  information,  he  affirmed, 
was  due  the  discovery  of  that  country.  In  1529  his  wife 
died,  and  he  was  banished  to  Santo  Domingo.  Here  he 
married  again,  and  afterwards  returned  to  Panama,  where 
he  was  appointed  lieutenant  to  the  new  governor,  Fran- 
cisco de  Barrionuevo.  At  the  close  of  his  service  he 
underwent  a severe  trial  of  residencia,  and  was  sent  to 
Spain.  He  was,  however,  acquitted  there,  and  rewarded 
with  the  governorship  of  New  Castile.  He  embarked  for 
his  new  post  in  1539,  taking  with  him  sixty  men,  and  pro- 
viding for  later  reinforcements.  His  territory  extended 
on  the  coast  from  the  Gulf  of  San  Miguel  to  the  river  San 
Juan,  but  no  limit  was  fixed  for  the  interior,  and  here  he 
came  into  conflict  with  Benalcazar.1 

In  the  absence  of  Benalcazar,  Andagoya  advanced  into 
the  interior  as  far  as  the  town  of  Cali,  which  he  affirmed 
lay  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction.  Robledo,  who 
was  exploring  the  region  farther  towards  the  north,  was 
willing  to  have  both  Cali  and  Popayan  accept  the  preten- 
sions of  Andagoya  ; and  this  position  appears  to  have 
been  assumed  and  supported  by  the  opinion  that  it  would 
be  less  difficult,  when  the  proper  time  should  arrive,  for 
him  to  overthrow  the  rule  of  Andagoya  than  the  more 
firmly-established  authority  of  Benalcazar,  who  was  re- 
turning from  Spain,  where  he  had  received  from  the  court 
the  title  of  Adelantado  and  Governor  of  Popayan. 

On  his  arrival,  Benalcdzar  scorned  the  pretensions  of 
Andagoya,  treated  him  as  an  usurper,  and  caused  him  to 
be  arrested  and  taken  to  Popayan.  With  the  consent  of 

1 Andagoya,  Pascual  de,  Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  of  Pedrarias 
Davila  in  the  Provinces  of  Tierra  Firme,  translated  by  C.  R.  Markham 
(London,  1865:  Hakluyt  Society),  Markham’s  Introduction. 


INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA  147 

Benalcazar,  Robledo  continued  his  explorations  in  the 
region  of  the  lower  course  of  the  Cauca,  and  finally,  to- 
wards the  end  of  1541,  founded  Antioquia.  It  was  an 
easy  task  to  lay  out  the  streets  and  assign  the  lots  to  the 
settlers,  but  to  subdue  and  distribute  the  Indians  among 
them  was  attended  with  greater  difficulty  ; still  both  were 
successfully  accomplished.  Robledo  then  departed  for 
Spain  for  the  purpose  of  persuading  the  court  to  divide 
the  territory  subject  to  Benalcazar,  and  create  an  indepen- 
dent province.  This  action  having  been  taken,  he  hoped 
to  encounter  no  obstacles  in  persuading  the  court  to  confer 
upon  him  the  title  and  authority  of  governor  of  the  new 
province,  which  was  designed  to  embrace  the  region  about 
Antioquia  and  farther  north  to  the  territory  of  Cartagena.1 


Ill 

Another  settlement  made  in  Benalcazar’s  province  in 
1540  was  the  town  of  Timana.  The  site  chosen  for  it  was 
the  southern  end  of  the  Magdalena  valley.  The  founder 
was  Pedro  de  Anasco.  This  was  an  instance  where  a 
peaceful  and  conciliatory  policy  might  have  given  the 
settlement  great  prosperity  ; for  many  of  the  Indians 
of  this  part  of  the  valley  were  not  only  devoted  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil,  but  were  also  disposed  to  maintain 
friendly  relations  with  the  Spaniards.  But  by  an  act  of 
outrageous  cruelty  in  burning  a young  man  alive  in  the 
presence  of  his  mother  for  a trivial  offence,  Anasco  thought 
to  give  all  the  other  natives  a warning  which  would  make 
them  at  once  submissive.  The  real  effect  of  this  was  to 
produce  an  exasperation,  a demand  for  vengeance,  and 
an  uprising  against  the  invaders.  Anasco,  with  a company 
of  twenty  men,  was  overtaken  near  the  settlement,  and 
only  three  escaped  to  carry  the  news  of  the  disaster  to 

1 For  an  account  of  Robledo’s  explorations,  see  the  two  relaciones, 
in  Doc.  in£d.,  ii.  267-356. 


148  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Timana.  Anasco  was  taken  alive,  and  turned  over  to 
Gaitana,  the  mother  of  the  young  man  who  had  been 
murdered.  His  eyes  were  plucked  out,  and,  with  a rope 
about  his  neck,  he  was  passed  on  from  village  to  village, 
and  made  the  victim  of  indignities  of  all  kinds,  reaping 
in  a miserable  death  what  he  had  sown. 

While  the  heroic  Gaitana’s  cry  for  vengeance  was 
arousing  the  Indians  about  Timana,  the  Paeces,  in  the 
central  part  of  the  province,  were  preparing  to  make  war 
on  the  colonists  of  Popayan.  Juan  de  Ampudia,  who  in 
the  absence  of  Benalcazar  was  the  chief  in  authority,  went 
out  to  subdue  them  or  bring  them  to  a more  peaceful 
mood  ; but  he  was  hardly  more  fortunate  than  Anasco, 
his  rival  in  barbarity,  for  he  was  killed  by  the  thrust  of 
a spear  which  pierced  his  neck.  In  their  attempts  to 
expel  the  colonists  from  Timana,  the  natives  had  already 
been  twice  defeated.  But  the  cacica,  Gaitana,  her  indig- 
nation still  unsatisfied,  once  more  called  the  tribesmen  to 
war.  It  is  reported  that  ten  thousand  persons  appeared 
before  the  little  fort.  The  warriors  came  with  their  women 
and  all  the  appliances  for  celebrating  a great  victory.  At 
first  they  held  a strong  line  unbroken,  preventing  the 
horsemen  from  riding  over  them,  but  when  the  superior 
arms  of  the  Spaniards  began  to  cut  them  off  by  the  hundred 
their  courage  and  confidence  of  victory  wavered  ; the  men 
refused  to  stand  against  the  charge  of  the  horses,  and  con- 
fusion and  awful  slaughter  followed.  They  fell  under  the 
strokes  of  the  sabres,  were  trampled  to  death  by  the 
cavalry,  and,  when  the  conflict  was  over,  the  bodies  of 
thousands  of  the  dead  covered  the  field.1 

While  Jeronimo  Lebron  was  the  acting  governor  of 
Santa  Marta,  he  made  an  expedition  to  assume  authority 
over  the  New  Kingdom  of  Grenada.  He  ascended  the 


1 “ Esta  era  la  tercera  carnicerla,  y coino  aquellos  indfgenas  no  se 
desdenaban  de  comer  la  carne  de  sus  hermanos,  las  casas  de  los  Indios 
amigos  y los  patios  aparecian  cubiertos  de  tasajos  de  carne  humana 
sec&ndose  al  sol  " (Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  273). 


INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA  149 

Magdalena  River,  and  arrived  at  Velez  near  the  end  of 
1540.  Here  he  was  received  by  the  municipal  authorities 
as  the  legitimate  governor.  Hernan  Perez  de  Quesada, 
however,  refused  to  sustain  the  action  of  Velez,  unless 
Lebron’s  pretensions  could  be  shown  to  rest  on  royal  dis- 
patches appointing  him  governor  of  the  New  Kingdom  of 
Grenada,  affirming  that  the  supreme  control  over  the  region 
discovered  by  Jimenez  de  Quesada  was  not  involved  in 
the  authority  of  the  governor  of  Santa  Marta.  Then,  in 
an  interview  between  Lebron  and  Perez  de  Quesada,  it 
was  agreed  that  they  should  seek  the  opinion  of  the  cabildos 
of  Santa  Fe  and  Tunja.  This  proved  to  be  opposed  to 
the  pretensions  of  Lebron,  and  he  was  obliged  to  with- 
draw satisfied  with  such  gold  and  emeralds  as  he  could 
obtain  in  exchange  for  his  horses,  slaves,  clothing,  arms, 
and  whatever  other  articles  he  was  able  to  sell.  The 
majority  of  his  men  remained  with  the  colony  of  the  high- 
lands. Only  twenty-five  returned  with  him  to  Santa 
Marta.  He  descended  the  Magdalena  River  from  Guata- 
qui,  and,  learning  at  Santa  Marta  that  a new  governor  was 
coming  from  Spain,  he  returned  to  Santo  Domingo. 

IV 

Although  the  Spaniards  were  victorious,  they  wished 
to  abandon  Timana.  Some  of  them  went  to  Santa  Fe  de 
Bogota,  but,  after  the  return  of  Benalcazar,  they  appeared 
in  Popayan.  On  leaving  Bogota  for  Spain,  Gonzalo 
Jimenez  de  Quesada  gave  his  brother,  Hernan  Perez  de 
Quesada,  authority  to  govern  the  colony  during  his  absence. 
In  the  beginning  of  his  administration,  Hernan  Perez  de 
Quesada  commissioned  Captain  Martin  Galiano  to  found 
the  town  of  Velez,  which  became  a point  of  departure  for 
the  exploration  and  conquest  of  the  rich  and  populous 
province  of  Guane,  and  other  parts  of  the  country  acces- 
sible from  the  town.  On  the  expeditions  undertaken  by 
Captain  Galiano,  he  discovered  new  evidences  of  civilisa- 


150  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

tion  in  textile  fabrics,  in  pottery,  in  the  cultivation  of 
irrigated  fields,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  various  kinds 
of  articles  for  personal  adornment.  In  1539  was  founded 
also  the  city  of  Tunja.  The  founder  was  Gonzalo  Suarez 
Rondon,  and  the  first  alcaldes  were  Juan  de  Pineda  and 
Jorje  de  Olmedo.  Like  many  others  who  became  con- 
spicuous in  the  colonisation  of  South  America,  Rondon 
had  been  a soldier  in  the  Italian  wars.1 

With  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  which  was  begun  by 
Captain  Jeronimo  de  Aguayo,  and  the  raising  of  vegetables 
from  seed  brought  by  the  followers  of  Lebron,  the  colony 
was  in  a position  to  enter  upon  a course  of  independent 
prosperity.  But  in  an  evil  hour  Perez  de  Quesada  fell 
under  the  spell  of  the  tradition  of  El  Dorado,  and  was 
lured  into  sacrificing  funds  of  the  colony,  and  the  time  and 
lives  of  colonists,  in  a vain  pursuit.  In  order  that  he  might 
leave  the  colony  in  assured  peace,  he  determined,  in  cold 
blood,  to  murder  those  who  might  become  leaders  of  their 
tribesmen,  and  possibly  enemies  of  the  Europeans,  al- 
though at  the  time  in  question  there  was  no  indication 
of  an  insurrection.  Quemichua,  the  successor  of  Quemin- 
chatocha,  was  one  of  the  first  victims.  Under  charges 
that  were  known  to  have  no  foundation,  he  was  brutally 
beheaded,  and  a similar  fate  overtook  the  caciques  of 
Samaca,  Turmeque,  Boyaca,  and  many  other  peaceful 
natives,  whose  position  and  intelligence  indicated  that 
they  might  become  dangerous  enemies,  if  at  any  time 
they  should  be  moved  by  a hostile  disposition.2 

Quesada  started  on  his  expedition  with  about  two  hun- 
dred men,  and  his  undertaking  was  only  a repetition  of 
the  experiences  of  his  predecessors.  He  returned  with  less 
than  half  of  his  force,  and  found  that,  in  spite  of  his  extra- 
ordinary precautions,  peace  had  not  reigned  throughout 
the  land.  Gonzalo  Suarez  Rondon  had  exercised  the 
powers  of  a governor  during  Quesada’s  absence,  but  he 

1 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  275-82;  Piedrahita,  113. 

a Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  286  ; Piedrahita,  lib.  ix.  cap  iii. 


INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA  151 

had  not  been  able  to  prevent  the  encomenderos  from 
oppressing  their  Indian  serfs.  This  led  to  a revolt,  and 
a more  or  less  serious,  though  temporary,  disturbance  of 
the  peace.1 


V 

Of  the  three  leaders  of  expeditions  who  went  to  Spain 
to  solicit  the  favour  of  the  court,  Benalcazar  was  the  most 
successful.  He  returned,  as  already  indicated,  as  adelan- 
tado  and  governor  of  Popayan.  Jimenez  de  Quesada  en- 
countered difficulties.  He  had  not  acquired  the  art  of 
obtaining  favours  from  superiors.  Having  funds  at 
his  disposal,  he  found  it  more  agreeable  to  spend  his  time 
travelling  in  Portugal,  France,  and  Italy  than  waiting  in 
the  ante-rooms  of  those  persons  who  had  rewards  or  gifts 
to  bestow.  Moreover,  the  royal  decree  appointing  Pedro 
Fernandez  de  Lugo  governor  of  Santa  Marta  provided 
that  his  son  might  succeed  him.  It  was  not  the  policy 
of  the  court  to  continue  to  maintain  in  this  part  of  South 
America  a number  of  colonies  independent  of  one  another, 
but  to  merge  them  into  a single  kingdom  ; and  extending 
the  jurisdiction  of  Luis  de  Lugo  to  embrace  not  only  Santa 
Marta,  but  also  the  settlements  of  Santa  Fe,  Tunja,  and 
Velez,  appeared  to  be  a step  towards  the  realisation  of  this 
policy.  Under  his  commission,  therefore,  Luis  de  Lugo 
became  the  governor  of  the  territory  discovered  by  Ouesada . 


1 References  to  the  search  for  El  Dorado  may  be  found  in  Cas- 
tellanos, Elegias  de  varones  ilustres  de  Indias,  pt.  iii.  canto  ii. ; Rodriguez 
Fresle,  Nuevo  Reino  de  Granada  (Bogota,  1890),  cap.  ii.  ; El  Dorado, 
aus  den  Mittheilungen  der  Geog.  Gesellschaft  in  Hamburg  (1889) ; Piedra- 
hita,  Historia  general  del  nuevo  reyno  de  Granada,  lib.  ix.  cap.  iii.  ; 
Bandelier,  The  Gilded  Man  (New  York,  1893)  ; Humboldt,  Personal 
Narrative  (Bohn  ed.),  iii.  chap.  xxv.  ; Zerda,  Liborio,  El  Dorado, 
estudio  hist.,  etnog.  y arqueologico  (Bogota,  1883);  Gumilla,  El  Orinoco 
ilustrado  (Madrid,  1745),  cap.  xxv.  sec.  3 ; Oviedo,  Historia  general  y 
natural  de  las  Indias  (Madrid,  1851),  iv.  lib.  xlix.  cap.  ii.  ; “ The 
Quest  of  El  Dorado,”  by  J.  A.  Manso,  in  Bulletin  of  the  Pan-American 
Union  for  January,  February,  March,  and  April  1912  ; Gilij,  Filippo 
Salvadore,  Saggio  di  storia  americana  (Roma,  1780-84),  i.  135-45,  328. 


152  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

On  his  return  from  Spain  he  landed  near  Cape  de  la  Vela,  in 
1542,  and  proceeded  up  the  valley  of  Upar  and  the  Magda- 
lena River  to  Velez,  and  later  to  Tunja  and  Santa  Fe. 
Having  stolen  the  spoils  of  an  expedition,  which  belonged 
to  his  father  and  the  other  members  of  the  expedition,  it 
is  possible  that  he  passed  by  Santa  Marta  in  order  to  avoid 
an  unpleasant  reception  by  persons  whom  he  had  de- 
frauded.1 

At  Velez  Luis  de  Lugo  was  received  as  governor  of  the 
New  Kingdom  of  Grenada,  and  here  began  an  administra- 
tion of  affairs  that  could  not  well  have  been  more  unfortu- 
nate. He  annulled  repartimientos  made  by  Galiano,  and 
countenanced  a severe  and  merciless  treatment  of  the 
natives.  He  persuaded  the  encomenderos  of  Santa  Fe 
and  Tunja  to  renounce  their  encomiendas,  under  his  assur- 
ance that  he  would  reconvey  the  encomiendas  to  them  in 
legitimate  form.  But  the  reconveyance  was  delayed, 
while  he  collected  the  tribute  from  the  Indians  for  his 
own  advantage.  He  brought  charges  against  Gonzalo 
Suarez  Rondon,  and  confiscated  his  property,  which 
amounted  to  fifty  thousand  dollars.  In  fact,  an  inordi- 
nate desire  for  wealth  furnished  the  principal  motive  of 
his  conduct.  By  observing  gold  in  the  hands  of  the  natives 
he  was  led  to  seek  the  mines  from  which  it  was  derived  ; 
and,  by  investigations  instituted  for  this  purpose,  he  was 
drawn  into  new  relations  with  the  Indians,  and  induced 
to  establish  new  cities,  and  to  take  formal  possession  of 
territory  which  the  Spaniards  had  not  hitherto  occupied. 
But  the  welfare  of  these  cities,  or  of  any  part  of  the  colony, 
interested  him  less  than  the  accumulation  of  treasure  ; 
and  the  wealth  at  his  disposal  was  rapidly  increased  by 
confiscation,  by  tribute  received  from  the  natives,  and  by 
the  spoils  of  his  agents,  who  plundered  every  place, 


1 With  Luis  de  Lugo  came  the  first  European  women  to  enter 
Bogota.  There  were  five  of  them,  one  of  whom,  Isabel  Romero, 
gave  to  the  order  the  land  on  which  the  Augustinian  monastery  was 
built  (Groot,  i.  112). 


INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA  153 

whether  sanctuary  or  grave,  where  it  was  thought  gold 
might  be  found. 

During  his  reckless  pursuit  of  gold,  Lugo  was  not  un- 
mindful of  the  impression  his  conduct  had  made  both  in 
Spain  and  America,  and,  foreseeing  the  condemnation  that 
was  destined  to  proceed  from  an  impending  residencia,  he 
left  Santa  Fe  near  the  end  of  1544.  At  Santa  Marta  he 
purchased  a vessel  for  his  voyage  to  Spain,  and,  touching 
at  the  port  near  Cape  de  la  Vela,  he  was  made  to  restore 
the  value  of  the  pearls  he  had  taken  by  force  when  he 
landed  at  this  port  on  the  way  to  assume  his  duties  as 
governor.  He  released  the  officials  whom  he  was  conduct- 
ing to  Spain  as  prisoners,  and,  on  arriving  in  Spain,  he  was 
compelled  to  give  up  part  of  the  funds  he  had  taken  from 
Gonzalo  Suarez  Rondon.  But  he  still  had  sufficient  in- 
fluence to  obtain  an  appointment  to  the  office  of  colonel, 
and  to  secure  the  command  of  a force  entering  upon  the 
war  in  Italy.  A little  later  he  died  in  Milan.  He  was 
hated  by  practically  all  who  knew  him,  but  he  seemed  to 
obtain  what  he  wished  in  the  world,  and  that  almost  with- 
out an  opposing  voice.  He  was  a highwayman  in  official 
life. 


VI 

Not  long  after  the  return  of  Benalcazar  from  Spain, 
Vaca  de  Castro  arrived,  commissioned  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  Peru’s  political  affairs,  and  to  assume  the  position 
and  authority  of  governor  in  case  of  Pizarro’s  death.  The 
assassination  of  Pizarro  found  Castro  unprepared  to 
execute  the  king’s  orders,  and  he  was  obliged  to  form  a 
military  force  sufficient  to  make  his  authority  respected, 
Benalcazar  made  an  early  response  to  his  call,  and  accom- 
panied him  to  Quito,  and  later  to  San  Miguel.  Here 
Castro  dismissed  him,  under  the  pretext  that  he  was  needed 
in  Popayan  to  maintain  order  among  the  diverse  elements 
of  his  extensive  province.  It  is  probable  that  Castro  had 


154  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

other  motives  less  disinterested  than  this  ; that  he  feared 
the  restraint  which  the  presence  of  a man  of  superior  mili- 
tary capacity  would  impose  upon  him  ; and  that  he  might 
find  his  ally  disposed  to  favour  the  cause  of  Almagro. 
At  all  events,  Benalcazar  returned  to  Popayan,  a disgusted 
spectator  of  affairs  in  Peru.  He  visited  various  parts  of 
his  province ; vainly  attempted  to  subdue  the  Paeces, 
who  from  their  fortified  posts  defied  the  authority  of  the 
Spaniards  ; and  passed  to  Antioquia  to  take  account  of 
the  conduct  of  Robledo. 

In  the  meantime  a disturbing  element  had  appeared 
from  another  quarter.  Pedro  de  Heredia  had  returned 
to  America,  re-established  by  royal  favour  in  the  powers 
and  privileges  of  governor  of  Cartagena.  He  undertook 
various  expeditions  into  the  interior,  the  most  important 
of  which  was  that  to  the  valley  of  Atrato,  in  pursuit  of  the 
riches  of  Dobaiba.  This  having  been  unsuccessful,  he 
returned  to  San  Sebastian  de  Uraba,  and  thence  proceeded 
to  Antioquia.  Here  he  was  taken  by  Captain  Juan  Cab- 
rera, and  sent  to  Benalcazar,  while  Cabrera’s  troops  were 
permitted  to  rob  Heredia’s  soldiers,  taking  their  arms, 
clothing,  and  horses,  as  if  they  were  savages  dealing  with 
an  alien  enemy,  and  not  civilised  men  dealing  with  other 
civilised  men,  who,  like  themselves,  were  the  subjects  of 
the  Spanish  crown. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  royal  audiencia  of 
Panama,  Cartagena,  Popayan,  and  Peru  were  placed  under 
its  authority  ; while  Santa  Marta  and  Venezuela  remained 
subject  to  the  audiencia  of  Santo  Domingo.  It  was,  there- 
fore, to  their  common  superior,  the  audiencia  of  Panama, 
that  Benalcazar  sent  Governor  Heredia,  with  the  request 
that  that  body  would  prevent  him  from  entering  with  an 
armed  force  upon  territory  not  within  the  limits  of  his 
jurisdiction.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  action  of  the 
audiencia  with  respect  to  Benalcazar’s  petition,  Heredia, 
having  regained  his  freedom,  prepared  for  another  expedi- 
tion to  Antioquia.  While  he  was  forming  plans  for  this 


INTERIOR  OF  NEW  GRANADA  155 

new  enterprise,  in  the  beginning  of  1544,  a company  of 
pirates,  led  by  Robert  Baal,  landed  at  midnight  and  took 
possession  of  Cartagena.1  They  had  already  sacked  and 
burned  Santa  Marta,  and  they  landed  for  their  new  exploit 
before  information  of  the  destruction  of  that  city  had 
been  received  by  Governor  Heredia  or  any  of  his  associates. 
They  robbed  the  royal  treasury  of  forty-five  thousand 
dollars,  and,  by  the  payment  of  a considerable  sum  by  the 
governor,  they  were  induced  to  desist  from  burning  the 
town.  This  calamity  did  not  prevent  Heredia  from  carry- 
ing out  his  plan  for  a second  expedition  to  Antioquia,  and 
having  taken  that  place  without  resistance,  he  installed 
officials  appointed  by  himself.  These  were,  however, 
soon  replaced  by  others,  and  the  authority  of  Benalcazar 
was  again  recognised.  When  Heredia  returned  to  Carta- 
gena, he  found  there  Miguel  Diaz  de  Armendariz,  who  had 
been  commissioned  by  the  Council  of  the  Indies  to  conduct 
the  residencia  of  the  governors  of  the  several  provinces  of 
New  Granada.  He  came  also  to  proclaim  and  introduce 
the  New  Laws,  which  met  here  with  an  opposition  similar 
to  that  which  they  encountered  elsewhere.  Armendariz’s 
mission  was  thus  not  greatly  unlike  that  of  Blasco  Nunez 
Vela  in  Peru.2 

Armendariz  went  to  Bogota  after  he  had  held  the  resi- 
dencia of  the  governor  of  Cartagena,  and  arrived  there 
January  17,  1547.  His  lieutenant,  Pedro  de  Ursua, 
Bishop  Calatayud,  and  various  residents  of  Bogota,  who 
had  been  persecuted  by  Governor  Lugo,  had  preceded  him. 
At  Bogota  he  proclaimed  the  New  Laws  ; but  the  cabildos, 
seeing  the  losses  that  would  follow  their  execution,  ap- 
pointed commissioners,  and  directed  them  to  go  to  Spain 
to  seek  to  have  these  laws  repealed,  particularly  that  pro- 
vision which  prevented  children  and  widows  from  inherit- 
ing repartimientos  or  encomiendas  which  had  been  held 
by  a father  or  a husband.  The  mission  was  in  so  far  suc- 
cessful that  the  petition  of  the  cabildos  was  granted,  and 

1 Piedrahita,  lib.  x.  cap.  i.  2 Ibid,,  cap.  vi.  and  vii. 


156  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

at  the  same  time  the  Council  ordered  the  creation  of  a 
royal  audiencia  in  Bogota.  Moreover,  on  the  basis  of 
reports  by  commissioners  and  Armendariz,  Jimenez  de 
Quesada  was  permitted  to  return  to  Bogota  with  the  title 
of  Marshal,  and  he  was  made  a life  member  of  the  municipal 
council,  and  given  an  annual  salary  or  pension  of  two 
thousand  ducats  from  the  royal  treasury.1 

The  establishment  of  an  audiencia  at  Bogota  fixed 
definitely  the  position  of  that  city  as  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom  of  New  Granada.  The  original  list  of  oidores 
appointed  for  the  proposed  audiencia  included  Gutierrez 
de  Marcado,  the  president,  in  addition  to  Lopez  de  Garlaza 
and  Beltran  de  Gongora.  The  three  members  left  Carta- 
gena for  Bogota,  but  at  Mompox  Mercado  fell  ill  and  died. 
The  others  continued  their  journey,  and  arrived  at  Bogota 
near  the  end  of  March  1550.  Their  credentials  wrere  pre- 
sented to  the  cabildo,  and  their  authority  as  members  of 
the  royal  audiencia  was  recognised,  April  7,  1550.  The 
royal  seal,  on  its  arrival,  was  accorded  a ceremonious  re- 
ception. Enclosed  in  a curiously- wrought  box,  it  was 
placed  on  a cushion  on  a small  white  horse  that  was  covered 
with  a decorated  blanket,  and  was  led  by  one  of  the  regi- 
dores  by  a rope  of  crimson  velvet ; and  over  it  the  other 
regidores  carried  a rich  canopy.  On  each  side  of  the  seal 
rode  one  of  the  oidores,  or  judges,  of  the  audiencia,  accom- 
panied by  one  of  the  alcaldes  ; and  thus,  attended  by  a 
great  company  of  the  citizens,  they  conducted  the  royal 
seal  to  the  building  where  it  was  designed  to  deposit  it.2 

1 Acosta,  Nueva  Granada , 328 ; Picdrahita,  lib.  x.  cap.  vii. 

2 Piedrahita,  lib.  xi.  cap.  iv.  and  v. ; Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva 
Grenada,  i.  104.  For  the  royal  decree  concerning  the  reception  and 
use  ol  the  seal,  see  Simon,  Las  conquistas  de  Tierra  Firtne,  iii.  91 ; 
Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  331. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LIMA 

I.  The  municipality  of  Jauja.  II.  The  search  for  a site  for  the  capital. 
III.  First  acts  of  the  cabildo.  IV.  The  first  bishop,  Loayza,  and 
other  ecclesiastics.  V.  Later  ordinances. 

I 

During  Pizarro’s  march  from  Cajamarca  to  Cuzco  in  1533, 
as  already  indicated,  he  founded  the  municipality  of  Jauja. 
The  original  alcaldes  were  Juan  Mogrobejo  de  Quinones 
and  Sebastian  de  Torres.  The  regidores  were  Garcia  de 
Salcedo,  Alonso  de  Riquelme,  Rodrigo  de  Mazuelas,  Juan 
de  Barrios,  Gregorio  de  Sotello,  and  Diego  Maldonado. 
In  addition  to  these  officials,  there  was  a notary  public 
in  the  person  of  Captain  Geronimo  de  Aliaga.  This  organi- 
sation was  maintained  in  the  valley  of  Jauja  until  January 
1535,  when  it  was  transferred  to  the  banks  of  the  Rimac.1 

In  the  months  of  peace  which  followed  the  conquest 
of  Cuzco,  Pizarro  formed  certain  plans  with  respect  to  the 

1 " Subsistio  unicamente  hasta  enero  de  1535  en  que,  trasladandose 
&.  orillas  del  Rimac,  dio  vida  a la  Ciudad  de  los  Reyes  del  Peru  ” ( Libro 
primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima , Parte  Primera  (Paris,  1900),  382.  Garcia 
de  Salcedo  held  a royal  commission  as  “ Veedor,”  or  “ Visitador,”  and 
in  that  capacity  was  ex  officio  a regidor,  as  other  royal  officials  might 
be  regidores  of  the  towns  in  which  they  resided.  This  regulation  was, 
however,  abolished  by  a royal  decree  issued  at  Madrid,  February  2, 
1622,  which  prohibited  officials  of  the  royal  treasury  in  the  Indies  from 
becoming  regidores,  even  when  they  might  have  purchased  the  office 
or  have  obtained  it  by  any  means  permitted  by  the  existing  law  ( Leyes 
de  Indias,  lib.  viii.  tit.  iv.  ley.  liii.) . This  decree  was  in  confirmation 
of  previous  legislation — Philip  II,  April  3,  1567  ; Philip  III,  May  27, 
1605,  and  November  1,  1607 — which  prohibited  officials  of  the  royal 
establishment  from  holding  any  other  offices.  This  legislation  did  not 
affect  Salcedo,  for  it  did  not  appear  until  after  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1556. 


158  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

state  which  he  hoped  to  construct  on  the  ruins  of  the  Inca 
kingdom.  It  seemed  to  him  desirable  that  the  capital 
should  be  near  the  sea,  where  it  would  be  easily  accessible 
to  persons  arriving  from  Spain,  and  where  the  inhabitants 
might  find  the  fewest  possible  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
receiving  European  wares  and  European  ideas.  Both 
Jauja  and  Cuzco,  lying  east  of  the  main  ridge  of  the  Andes, 
were  too  far  away  from  the  ports,  and  neither  was  suited  to 
be  the  capital  of  the  new  kingdom.  Pizarro,  therefore, 
offered  the  suggestion  that  those  inhabitants  of  Jauja  who 
held  repartimientos  of  Indians  near  the  coast  should  live 
in  that  region,  while  those  who  held  Indians  of  the  sierra 
should  continue  to  live  in  the  highland  town.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  cabildo  of  Jauja  had  this  suggestion  under  con- 
sideration at  their  meeting,  November  29, 1534,  and  reached 
the  conclusion  that  the  principal  city  ought  to  be  near  the 
coast  ; but  that,  instead  of  dividing  the  population  of 
Jauja  into  two  parts,  it  would  be  well  to  transfer  the  whole 
body  to  a site  to  be  selected  near  the  sea. 

This  decision  having  been  formed  by  the  members  of 
the  cabildo,  the  question  was  referred  to  a number  of  the 
leading  inhabitants  of  the  town,  who  were  requested  to 
write  and  sign  their  opinions.  The  views  of  the  persons 
consulted  agreed  essentially  with  the  decision  of  the 
cabildo,  and  were  in  favour  of  creating  one  important 
town,  instead  of  establishing  two  small  towns,  that  would 
probably  be  able  to  maintain  only  a struggling  and  in- 
secure existence.  The  considerations  that  moved  the 
members  of  the  cabildo  are  set  forth  in  the  statement  of 
their  decision.  They  found  the  region  too  cold,  with  too 
much  snow ; there  was  a lack  of  wood  ; the  distance 
from  the  sea  was  too  great ; and  the  way  was  unfit  for 
horses.  The  sterility  of  the  soil  would  necessitate  the 
transportation  of  many  articles  from  the  coast  and  the 
lowlands,  and  this  would  throw  an  intolerable  burden 
upon  the  natives.  Finally,  their  experience  seemed  to 
indicate  that  the  conditions  of  this  mountainous  country 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LIMA  159 

were  such  as  to  make  the  raising  of  horses  difficult,  if  not 
impossible.1 

When  the  project  to  abandon  Jauja  for  the  coast  region 
was  under  discussion,  there  were  thirty  Europeans  in  the 
town.  At  a subsequent  meeting,  held  on  December  4, 
1534,  the  cabildo  commissioned  Garcia  de  Salcedo,  Rod- 
rigo de  Mazuelas,  and  the  attorney,  Francisco  de  Hererra, 
to  examine  the  territory  near  the  coast,  and  to  act  for 
the  town  in  the  undertaking  to  find  a proper  site  for  the 
new  settlement,  the  site  that  would  be  most  favourable 
for  the  service  of  the  king  and  the  well-being  of  the 
inhabitants.2 


II 

Pizarro  accepted  the  project  to  remove  all  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Jauja,  and  appointed  Ruy  Diaz,  Juan  Tello, 
and  Alonso  Martin  de  D.  Benito  as  commissioners  to  seek 
a convenient  site  for  the  proposed  city.  On  January  13, 

1535,  these  commissioners  appeared  before  Governor 
Pizarro,  took  a solemn  oath,  and  reported  that  they  had 
examined  the  lands  of  the  cacique  of  Lima  and  found  an 
excellent  site  near  the  sea,  which  appeared  to  be  healthful, 

1 A number  of  documents  relating  to  the  foundation  of  Lima  are 
printed  in  the  third  part  of  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima.  Among 
these  one  may  read  : Letter  of  Charles  V and  Dona  Juana,  November  3, 

1536,  approving  of  the  transfer  of  the  inhabitants  from  Jauja  and  their 
establishment  at  Lima,  p.  17  ; a grant  by  Charles  V of  a coat  of  arms 
for  the  city,  and  confirmation  of  the  foundation,  pp.  18-19  : Decrees 
conceding  privileges  and  prerogatives  to  the  city,  pp.  20-40.  In  this  con- 
nection mention  may  be  made  of  Lima  Fundada,  o conquista  del  Peru,  by 
Pedro  de  Peralta  Barnuevo,  which  is  described  on  the  title-page  as  a 
" poema  heroica  en  que  se  decanta  toda  la  historia  del  descubrimiento  y 
sujecion  de  sus  provincias  por  D.  Francisco  Pizarro.”  It  comprises 
ten  cantos,  with  an  aggregate  of  nine  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  lines,  and  constitutes  the  first  volume  of  Odriozola’s  Coleccion  de 
documentos  literarios  del  Perii.  The  notes  of  this  edition,  as  well  as 
the  text,  may  be  consulted  with  profit.  Peralta  was  a professor  in  the 
University  of  San  Marcos,  and  rector  for  the  years  1715,  1716,  and  1717. 
He  died  in  Lima  in  1743  in  his  eightieth  year.  The  long  list  of  his 
writings  is  given  by  Mendiburu,  vi.  265. 

2 Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  i.  6. 


loo  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


where  there  was  wood,  very  good  water,  and  an  abundance 
of  land  for  cultivation.  On  the  basis  of  this  report  Pizarro 
ordered  the  inhabitants  of  Jauja  and  San  Gallan  trans- 
ferred to  the  place  selected,  and  appointed  the  persons 
who  were  to  constitute  the  government  of  the  new  city. 
He  appointed  Nicolas  de  Ribera  and  Juan  Tello  to  be 
alcaldes  ; and  for  regidores,  Alonso  de  Riquelme,  Garda 
de  Salcedo,  who  were  royal  officials,  Rodrigo  Mazuelas, 
Cristobal  de  Peralta,  Alonso  Palomino,  Diego  de  Agiiero, 
Nicolas  de  Ribera,  Jr.,  and  Diego  Gavilan.  To  these  was 
added  Domingo  de  la  Presa  as  secretary  of  the  cabildo. 
The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  cabildo  of  Jauja 
assented  to  this  order.1 

Pizarro  was  at  Pachacamac  when  he  received  the 
report  of  the  commissioners  on  the  site  of  the  capital  and 
made  the  appointments  to  the  municipal  offices.  It  was 
while  he  was  here,  moreover,  that  he  received  Almagro 
and  Alvarado  after  they  had  formed  the  agreement  of 
August  26,  1534,  in  Riobamba.  These  leaders  were  ac- 
companied by  the  notary,  Domingo  de  la  Presa,  who  re- 
mained with  Pizarro  to  become  the  secretary  of  Lima, 
while  Almagro  went  to  Cuzco  and  Alvarado  retui'ned  to 
Guatemala.  To  the  twenty-six  residents  contributed  by 
Jauja  to  the  new  settlement,  there  were  added  thirty  from 
San  Gallan.  Thus  Lima  entered  upon  its  career  as  a town 
with  one  priest,  eleven  officials,  and  fifty-six  other  per- 
sons, making  in  all  a group  of  sixty-eight  persons.  The 
eighteenth  of  January  is  counted  as  the  date  of  the  founda- 
tion ; but  the  cabildo  was  not  installed  until  the  twenty- 
first  of  the  same  month.2  Pizarro  assigned  lands  to  the 


1 Libro  primo  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  i.  7-13,  ii.  1-2.  Biographical 
sketches  of  the  principal  persons  associated  with  the  foundation  of  Lima 
may  be  read  in  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  i.  381-404,  and 
in  Part  Second,  1-88.  For  the  shield  (Escudo)  of  Lima,  see  Libro 
primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  ii.  222-25. 

2 In  the  second  part  of  the  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  ii.  7-80, 
the  editor,  Enriquez  Torres  Saldamando,  has  presented  the  genealogy 
of  the  principal  men  who  had  part  in  the  founding  of  Lima.  The  posi- 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LIMA  161 


settlers  of  the  new  town,  and  this  was  done  under  the 
Capitulation  of  July  26,  1529,  which  authorised  him  to 
distribute  lands  among  the  residents  of  the  cities  which 
he  might  establish  in  Peru.  These  lands  were  of  two 
classes  : either  town  lots  {solar es),  on  which  to  build 
houses  or  other  edifices,  or  lands  to  be  cultivated.1 


Ill 

The  first  important  action  of  the  cabildo  after  it  was 
organised  referred  to  the  preservation  of  the  trees  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rimac.  After  it  was  found  that  the  prospec- 
tive inhabitants  of  the  new  town  were  felling  useful  fruit 
trees  for  timber  with  which  to  build  houses  on  lots  that 
had  been  assigned  to  them,  the  cabildo,  at  its  meeting  on 
January  30,  1535,  ordered  that  no  one  should  cut  down 
fruit  trees  anywhere  in  the  valley,  under  a severe  penalty, 
and  that  no  trees  of  any  kind  should  be  cut  down  without 
permission  from  the  cabildo.  There  were  doubtless  more 
trees  in  the  valley  in  the  sixteenth  century  than  at  present , 
yet  from  the  beginning  of  the  city  Lima  suffered  from  a 
scarcity  of  wood.  Much  of  that  used  for  building  was 
brought  by  sea  from  Guayaquil ; some  was  received  from 
Chile ; and  Mexico  and  Central  America  furnished  a 
certain  amount  of  cedar.  Recognising  the  lack  of  wood 
in  the  region  about  Lima,  the  cabildo  on  several  occasions 
required  the  residents  to  plant  trees  on  their  lands. 


tion  selected  for  the  capital  was  lat.  12°  2'  24"  south;  long,  from 
Greenwich  76°  51'  30"  west,  and  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea. 

1 " Concedemos  a los  dichos  vecinos  e pobladores  que  les  sean  dados 
por  vos  los  solares  y tierras  convenientes  a sus  personas,  conforme  a lo 
que  se  ha  hecho  e hace  en  la  dicha  isla  Espanola  ; e ansimismo  os  daremos 
poder  para  que  en  nuestro  nombre,  durante  el  tiempo  de  vuestra  gober- 
nacion,  liagais  la  encomienda  de  los  Indios  de  la  dicha  tierra,  guardando 
en  ella  las  instrucciones  e ordenanzas  que  vos  seran  dadas.” — From  the 
Capitulation  of  July  26,  1529.  For  the  act  attesting  the  foundation 
of  Lima,  see  Odriozola,  Documentos  lit.  del  Peru,  xi.  35. 

VOL.  I. 


t. 


1 62  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


The  minutes  of  the  cabildo  for  the  first  four  years, 
from  1535  to  1539,  have  been  deciphered  and  printed  in 
Libro  primero  decabildos  deLima  (Lima,  1888),  and  in  these 
three  folio  volumes  one  has  access  to  an  account  of  the 
acts  of  the  municipal  council  in  the  early  progress  of  its 
work  from  week  to  week.  These  minutes  are  the  begin- 
ning of  a record  of  a city  government  that  has  been  con- 
tinued without  interruption  into  the  twentieth  century. 
The  power  of  Spain  in  the  New  World  has  been  broken  ; 
the  long  list  of  viceroys  has  come  to  an  end  ; revolutions 
have  set  up  and  deposed  presidents  ; but,  after  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  nearly  four  hundred  years  of  Peruvian  his- 
tory, the  municipal  government  of  Lima  is  the  legitimate 
descendant  of  the  government  organised  by  Pizarro  to 
manage  the  public  affairs  of  his  little  capital  of  less  than 
a hundred  inhabitants.  The  discussions  and  resolutions 
of  the  regidores  concerned  restrictions  on  the  conduct  of 
negroes  and  Indians  ; prices  which  labourers  and  trades- 
men might  charge  for  their  work  or  their  wares  ; the 
weights  and  measures  that  must  be  used  ; the  assign- 
ment of  lots  to  persons  asking  the  privileges  of  residents 
of  the  town  ; the  disposition  of  the  water  brought  for 
irrigation  or  for  other  uses  ; and  such  other  topics  as 
presented  themselves  in  the  experience  of  a primitive 
settlement. 


IV 

By  a bull  of  Pope  Paul  III,  issued  on  the  solicitation 
of  Charles  V,  the  church  at  Lima  w'as  elevated  to  the  rank 
of  a cathedral,  and  Geronimo  de  Loayza  became  the  first 
bishop  in  1543.  There  were  then  created  a dean,  an  arch- 
deacon, ten  canons,  and  the  other  officers  and  employees 
required  by  the  organisation  of  a cathedral ; but,  since 
the  income  of  the  cathedral  of  Lima  was  not  sufficient  to 
maintain  all  of  these  persons,  some  of  them  were  tempo- 
rarily suspended.  In  determining  the  procedure,  or  the 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LIMA  163 

conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  cathedral,  it  was  required  that 
the  constitutions,  ordinances,  usages,  customs,  and  rites 
of  the  cathedral  of  Seville  should  be  followed.  When 
Pizarro,  in  January  1535,  laid  the  corner-stone,  the  church 
was  dedicated  to  Nuestra  Senora  de  la  Asuncion,  but 
Paul  III,  in  raising  it  to  the  dignity  of  a cathedral,  an- 
nounced St.  John  the  Evangelist  as  its  principal  patron, 
perhaps  because  the  church  at  Cuzco  was  under  the  patron- 
age of  Our  Lady  of  the  Assumption.  In  1545  the  church 
of  Lima  was  once  more  raised  in  rank,  and  Bishop  Loayza 
became  the  archbishop.  Loayza  held  his  office  until  his 
death  in  Lima,  October  25,  1575.  After  this  event  Diego 
Gomez  de  la  Madrid  was  appointed  to  be  his  successor. 
His  appointment  was  made  in  15 77,  but  he  did  not  go  to 
Peru,  and  the  following  year  accepted  the  bishopric  of 
Badajoz,  in  Spain.  The  office  of  archbishop  remained 
six  years  without  an  active  incumbent,  and  at  the  close 
of  this  period,  in  1581,  Toribio  Alfonso  Mongrovejo  be- 
came Archbishop  of  Lima,  and  held  the  office  until  his 
death,  March  23,  1606.  He  was  beatified  in  1679,  and 
canonised  in  1726,  after  which  he  was  known  as  Saint 
Toribio. 

Spain’s  conception  of  her  conquest  and  colonisation 
of  America  presumed  the  participation  of  a larger  or 
smaller  number  of  the  clergy  in  every  important  enter- 
prise affecting  the  natives.  We  find,  therefore,  the 
Dominican  friar,  Reginaldo  Pedraza,  accompanying 
Francisco  Pizarro  in  the  early  exploration  of  the  Pacific 
coast.  He  went  with  him  to  Spain,  and  was  with  him 
at  Toledo  in  July  1529,  when  the  capilulaciones  were 
issued  by  Charles  V.  Pedraza  was  commissioned  to 
receive  the  ornaments  and  sacred  objects  that  were  to 
be  taken  to  Lima  for  the  church.  He  was  also  commis- 
sioned to  select  six  Dominicans  to  accompany  him  in 
returning  to  Peru  with  Pizarro.  These  were  Tomas  de 
San  Martin,  Vicente  Valverde,  Martin  Esquibel,  Pedro 
de  Ulloa,  Alonso  Montenegro,  and  Domingo  de  Santo 


1 64  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Tomas.  One  of  these,  Vicente  Valverde,  became  Bishop 
of  Cuzco.  When,  in  1534,  the  Dominicans  proposed  to 
establish  a monastery  at  Cuzco,  the  temple  of  the  Sun 
was  assigned  to  them  for  their  use.1 

In  accordance  with  an  order  conveyed  by  the  decree 
of  October  23, 1529,  there  were  assigned  to  the  Dominicans 
in  Lima  four  lots,  one  square  from  the  principal  plaza,  on 
which  to  erect  their  monastery.  Six  years  later,  in  1541, 
Pizarro  gave  them  two  more  lots  to  be  added  to  the  four 
which  they  had  already  received.  They  also  received 
agricultural  land,  outside  of  the  city,  and  an  assignment 
of  Indians  to  work  it.  Prior  to  1540,  the  Dominicans  of 
Peru  belonged  to  the  province  of  Santa  Cruz  of  Santo 
Domingo  ; but  in  this  year,  under  the  papal  bull  of 
December  23,  1539,  the  Dominican  province  of  Peru  was 
created,  which  embraced  the  territory  subject  to  the  vice- 
roy and  the  political  division  of  Nicaragua.  Later, 
Nicaragua,  Guatemala,  and  New  Granada  were  with- 
drawn from  the  Peruvian  province.  The  Franciscans 
were  also  established  in  Lima  very  early.  They  had  a 
house  in  Pachacamac,  but  they  were  transferred  from  this 
town  to  the  capital  in  1536.  The  chroniclers  of  the  order 
of  Merced  affirm  that  the  members  of  this  order  had  a 
hermitage  on  the  site  of  their  later  monastery  before  the 
arrival  of  either  the  Dominicans  or  the  Franciscans  ; but 
no  evidence  has  been  presented  to  substantiate  this  affir- 
mation. It  is  known,  however,  that  in  1537  their  Peruvian 
province  had  been  created,  and  that  the  pretensions  of 
Almagro  and  Pizarro  were  submitted  to  the  provincial 
of  this  order,  Francisco  dc  Bobadilla,  for  decision.  Before 
the  end  of  the  century  this  province  had  been  divided  into 
two  : that  of  Cuzco  and  that  of  Lima.2 

The  city,  according  to  Pizarro’s  original  plan,  con- 
tained one  hundred  and  seventeen  blocks,  thirteen  in 

1 Libya  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  part  ii.  270  ; Herrera,  Dec.  V, 
lib.  ii.  cap.  xii.,  xiii.;  Prescott,  Conquest  0 f Peril,  i.  41 6,  475. 

2 Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  ii.  269-285. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LIMA  165 


length  and  nine  in  width,  each  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  varas  square.  The  lot,  or  solar,  was  one-fourth 
part  of  a block.1 


1 In  the  distribution  of  the  solares,  Francisco  Pizarro  took  Nos. 
1,  2,  3,  and  4.  After  the  death  of  Pizarro,  this  block  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  State,  and  became,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  site  of  the  palace  of 
the  viceroys.  Nos.  5 and  7 were  given  to  the  treasurer,  Antonio 
Riquelme,  but  No.  7 was  later  withdrawn  for  the  use  of  the  govern- 
ment, and,  instead  of  it,  he  received  No.  6.  Antonio  Picado, 
Pizarro’s  secretary,  received  No.  8,  while  solares  9 and  10  were  assigned 
to  the  visitador,  Garcia  de  Salcedo,  but  later  No.  9 became  the  cemetery 
of  the  church.  On  No.  11  was  built  the  cathedral,  which  ultimately 
extended  over  No.  12.  Captain  Diego  de  Aguero  received  No.  13; 
Juan  de  Barbaran,  No.  15  ; Pedro  Navarro,  No.  16  ; Hernan  Ponce, 
No.  17  ; Juan  Diaz  Melgar,  No.  19  ; Francisco  de  Godoy,  Nos.  18  and 
29  ; Nicolas  de  Ribera,  Sr.,  No.  22  ; Nicolas  de  Ribera,  Jr.,  No.  24  ; 
Martin  Pizarro,  No.  21  ; Hernando  Pizarro,  Nos.  25  and  26  ; Rodrigo 
de  Mazuelas,  No.  28  ; Juan  de  Barrios,  No.  27  ; Francisco  Martin  de 
Alcantara,  No.  32  ; the  Dominican  monastery,  Nos.  33,  34,  35,  and  36, 
and,  later,  Nos.  38  and  40  and  a part  of  37  ; the  monastery  of  Merced, 
Nos.  41,  42,  43,  and  44.  A complete  account  of  the  distribution  of  the 
solares  is  not  now  possible,  because  of  the  loss  of  certain  documents 
which  contained  the  record. — Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  ii. 
409-n. 


166  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


V 

Ordinances  approved  in  1551  contain,  among  other 
items,  the  following  prohibitions  and  regulations  : No 
person  who  had  already  a lot  might  obtain  another,  and 
those  lots  which  had  been  assigned  should  be  enclosed 
within  six  months.  All  persons  who  held  estates  or  farms 
within  the  limits  of  the  city  were  required  to  plant  within 
a year  a certain  number  of  willows  and  other  trees  for 
wrood.  No  person  except  the  owmer  might  cut  fruit 
trees.  Negroes  might  not  go  into  the  streets  after  the 
ringing  of  the  curfew  ; they  might  not  enter  the  shops 
of  the  natives,  or  carry  arms  of  any  kind.  If  proved  that 
they  had  raised  their  hands  against  a Spaniard,  they 
should  be  given  a hundred  lashes,  and  their  hands  should 
be  pierced  with  nails  for  the  first  offence,  and  they  should 
be  cut  off  for  the  second  offence,  unless  they  had  acted 
in  self-defence.  The  negroes,  for  intimate  relations  with 
the  Indians,  should  be  punished  vath  flogging,  and  a repeti- 
tion of  the  offence  should  be  punished  v’ith  mutilation  or 
exile,  according  as  they  were  slaves  or  frecdmen.  Persons 
deceiving  with  weights  and  measures  should  pay  a fine 
of  tw-enty  pesos  ; and,  in  order  that  the  proper  weights 
and  measures  might  be  maintained,  it  was  required  that 
there  should  be  an  inspector  of  weights  and  measures 
appointed  by  the  city.  Wine  and  other  articles  should 
not  be  sold  by  estimating  by  bulk  or  lump,  but  by  measur- 
ing and  weighing  ; and  an  official  tariff  should  be  placed 
at  the  door  of  every  shop.  Under  these  ordinances  all  the 
citizens  were  required  to  keep  their  premises  clean,  and 
to  leave  the  rubbish  in  no  place  except  that  designated 
by  the  cabildo.  Animals  should  not  be  brought  into  the 
city  for  the  night,  nor  should  they  remain  in  the  fields 
without  a herdsman  ; and  no  one  should  enter  the  grain 
fields  of  another  person  for  the  purpose  of  gleaning.1 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  206.  These 
ordinances  are  printed  in  Revista  de  archivos  y bibliolecas  nationales,  v. 
10-20  ; also  in  Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  iii.  51-6. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LIMA  167 

With  the  growth  of  Lima  and  the  extension  of  culti- 
vation on  the  blocks  not  occupied  by  buildings  and  on 
the  lands  without  the  limits  of  the  town,  proper  arrange- 
ments were  required  for  distributing  water  to  the  city 
and  to  the  fields,  particularly  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
this  part  of  Peru  is  a rainless  region.  Seeing  the  unsatis- 
factory results  of  previous  efforts,  the  viceroy,  Francisco 
de  Toledo,  gave  this  subject  special  attention  in  forming 
ordinances  for  the  good  government  of  the  city.  He 
ordered  that  the  canals  or  ditches,  which  had  been  begun, 
should  be  completed  and  extended,  so  that  the  increased 
population  might  be  served ; that  where  the  ditches 
received  water  from  the  main  canal,  or  from  another 
ditch,  there  should  be  means  for  determining  the  amount 
of  water  taken  by  these  ditches,  in  order  that  none  might 
take  more  than  had  been  assigned  to  it.  No  person  might 
close  a ditch  or  open  a new  one,  except  by  permission  from 
the  cabildo  of  Lima.  Every  person  was  required  to  keep  all 
ditches  on  his  own  property  clean,  so  that  the  water  might 
flow  freely  ; and  he  was  prohibited  from  throwing  into 
the  ditches  any  material  from  the  stable  or  the  sweepings 
from  the  house.  Where  a ditch  crossed  a street  in  the 
town,  it  was  required  that  it  should  be  covered  with  thin 
flat  stones  in  such  a manner  that  they  would  appear  even 
with  the  surface  of  the  street,  and  would  not  be  ugly  or 
offer  any  hindrance  to  traffic.  If  any  person  wished  to 
make  or  repair  a ditch  or  canal,  he  should  not  undertake 
it  on  his  own  authority,  but  should  seek  permission  from 
the  superintendent  of  the  waterworks.  Finding  that 
the  carts  which  passed  through  the  streets  of  the  town 
broke  and  destroyed  the  ditches  and  befouled  the  water, 
the  viceroy  ordered  that  thereafter  no  carts  of  any  kind, 
big  or  little,  should  enter  the  city.  Somewhat  similar 
regulations  were  established  with  respect  to  the  water 
that  was  conducted  to  the  fields  for  irrigation.  Severe 
penalties  were  imposed  for  the  violation  of  any  of  these 
ordinances.1 


Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  iii.  57-63. 


168  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


At  the  close  of  his  term  of  office,  Toledo  prepared  and 
presented  to  the  king  an  elaborate  memorial  setting  forth 
the  beneficent  achievements  of  his  administration.  But  in 
spite  of  services  which  caused  him  to  be  known  as  the 
Peruvian  Solon,  he  ended  his  official  career  without  the 
favour  of  the  king.  When  he  presented  himself  at  the 
court,  the  king,  remembering  his  treatment  of  Inca  Tupac 
Amaru,  said  to  him  : “ Go  to  your  home  ; I did  not  send 
you  to  Peru  to  kill  kings,  but  to  serve  kings.”  Francisco 
de  Toledo  entered  upon  the  exercise  of  authority  as  vice- 
roy at  Lima,  November  26,  1569,  and  relinquished  this 
authority  to  his  successor,  Martin  Enriquez,  on  Sep- 
tember 23,  1581.1 

1 Mendiburu,  viii.  22-71 ; Lorente,  Historia  del  Peril  bajo  la  dinastla 
austriaca,  299-341.  These  are  references  to  two  general  accounts  of 
the  events  of  Toledo’s  reign.  It  is  uncertain  whether  his  successor 
entered  Lima  on  September  23  or  28  ; sec  Mendiburu,  iv.  229.  Toledo’s 
memorial  to  the  king  is  printed  in  Relaciones  do  los  vireyes  y audiencias 
que  han  gobernado  el  Peru,  i.  3-31  ; the  rest  of  the  volume,  pp.  33-366, 
comprises  the  ordinances  issued  by  Toledo,  " para  el  bucn  gobierno  de 
estos  reinos  del  Peril  y republicas  de  el.” 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE 

I.  The  early  services  of  Aguirre  and  Valdivia.  II.  Valdivia’s  expedition 
to  Chile.  III.  Settlements  in  Tucuman. 

I 

In  the  history  of  the  attempts  to  conquer  and  colonise 
Chile  after  the  death  of  Almagro,  two  persons  appear 
whose  characters  and  achievements  entitle  them  to  special 
consideration.  One  of  these  was  Pedro  de  Valdivia  ; the 
other  was  Francisco  de  Aguirre.  Both  had  been  soldiers 
under  Charles  V in  Italy,  and  both  were  typical  represen- 
tatives of  the  most  vigorous  class  of  Spanish  adventurers 
who  sought  fortune  and  glory  in  America  in  the  sixteenth 
century. 

Valdivia  was  born  in  Estremadura,  and,  like  most 
of  his  fellow-provincials,  was  poor.  In  1535,  leaving  his 
family  in  Spain,  he  set  out  for  America,  and  took  part  in 
a more  or  less  fruitless  expedition  in  Venezuela.  In  1536 
he  arrived  in  Peru.  He  was  one  of  a large  number  of 
soldiers  who  hastened  to  that  country  from  all  parts  of 
America  to  assist  in  putting  down  an  uprising  of  the 
Indians  which  threatened  to  exterminate  Pizarro  and  his 
followers.  The  prestige  which  Valdivia  enjoyed  on  account 
of  his  service  in  Italy,  and  the  qualities  he  displayed  in 
Peru,  enabled  him  to  gain  the  confidence  of  Pizarro  and 
the  leadership  of  the  expedition  to  Chile.  During  his 
service  in  Peru  he  acquired  a rich  mine  at  Porco,  from  which 
he  drew  revenues  that  helped  to  make  him  one  of  the  most 
wealthy  men  of  the  province.  Here  he  displayed  that 
trait  of  character  which  was  conspicuous  throughout  his 

169 


170  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

career.  He  was  dissatisfied  with  conditions  that  most 
men  would  have  regarded  as  eminently  satisfactory.  He 
was  not  a colonist,  but  a conqueror.  He  was  less  interested 
in  developing  the  conditions  of  civilisation  and  a peaceful 
civil  life  than  in  expanding  the  realm  of  his  military 
jurisdiction.  The  orderly  growth  of  the  cities  which  he 
founded  concerned  him  less  than  the  plan  of  extending 
his  dominion  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 

Aguirre  was  born  in  1500,  in  the  city  of  Talavera  de  la 
Reina.  His  family  claimed  the  distinction  of  nobility, 
and  had  sufficient  property  to  maintain  itself  in  a manner 
befitting  its  pretensions.  He  attained  a degree  of  culti- 
vation superior  to  that  possessed  by  most  of  his  later  com- 
panions in  America.  Like  many  of  the  prominent  youth 
of  his  time,  he  adopted  the  profession  of  a soldier.  He 
was  with  the  victorious  army  when  Francis  I was  defeated 
at  Pavia,  and  the  king  himself  was  made  a prisoner.  In 
the  sacking  of  Rome  Aguirre  distinguished  himself  by  his 
successful  efforts  to  stay  the  barbarities  which  his  com- 
pany proposed  to  perpetrate.  A little  later  we  find  him 
married,  retired  from  the  army,  and  serving  by  appoint- 
ment of  Charles  V as  corregidor  of  his  native  city.  Here 
his  five  children  were  born  ; and  these  years  in  Talavera 
de  la  Reina  appear  to  have  been  a period  of  calm  in  an 
otherwise  stormy  existence.  But  in  the  course  of  time 
stories  of  the  adventurers  who  had  gone  to  America  became 
household  tales  in  Spain  ; and  they  carried  their  disturb- 
ing influence  even  to  the  stagnant  country  towns.  Culti- 
vating his  paternal  estate  appeared  to  Aguirre  a mean 
and  fruitless  occupation,  while  his  mind  was  inflamed  with 
visions  of  the  wealth  and  glory  to  be  achieved  beyond  the 
sea.  He  was  thirty-three  years  old,  full  of  both  mental 
and  physical  vigour,  and  conscious  that  his  knowledge 
of  military  affairs  would  enable  him  to  win  distinction. 
Leaving  behind  his  young  wife  and  four  of  his  small  chil- 
dren, he  took  the  eldest,  a boy  of  six  years,  and  embarked 
for  America  in  1533.  He  went,  as  he  wrote  many  years 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  171 

later,  “ not  naked,  as  others  are  accustomed  to  come,  but 
with  a reasonable  establishment  of  aides,  an  extensive 
equipment  and  arms,  and  a certain  number  of  servants 
and  friends.”1  He  arrived  in  Peru  a short  time  after 
Pizarro  had  spoiled  the  Inca’s  kingdom  and  murdered 
Atahualpa.  The  population  of  the  country  was  still 
aghast  at  the  crime.  From  Cajamarca  Pizarro  had  led 
his  little  army  southward,  and  in  November  1533  had 
taken  possession  of  Cuzco.  Shortly  after  the  occupation 
of  the  Inca’s  capital,  Francisco  de  Aguirre  joined  Pizarro’s 
forces,  thus  adding  to  the  support  of  the  conqueror  a 
man  of  military  skill  and  experience.  The  forces  of  Pizarro 
were  further  increased,  in  August  1534,  by  the  survivors 
of  Alvarado’s  troops,  who  remained  in  Peru  after  the  return 
of  that  leader  to  Guatemala.  All  these  and  more  were 
needed  as  soon  as  the  Indians  recovered  from  their  tem- 
porary astonishment  and  stupefaction  over  the  audacity 
and  barbarity  of  the  invaders.  Cuzco  and  Trujillo  and  the 
newly-founded  capital  of  Lima  were  besieged,  and  there 
were  uprisings  in  all  quarters.  But  the  serious  danger 
from  the  Indian  insurrections  passed  with  the  arrival  of 
reinforcements  from  Guatemala  and  Panama,  and  the 
return  of  Almagro  and  his  force  of  five  hundred  men  from 
Chile.  As  already  indicated,  Almagro ’s  return  was  fol- 
lowed by  hostilities  between  the  rival  leaders,  arising  out 
of  their  conflicting  claims  to  the  city  of  Cuzco.  These 
hostilities  finally  culminated  in  the  overthrow  of  Almagro 
at  the  battle  of  Las  Salinas,  and  his  subsequent  execution. 

The  victory  of  Pizarro  left  him  in  possession  of  the 
ailcient  capital,  and  practically  master  of  the  Inca’s 
dominions.  Clothed  with  this  extensive  power,  his  atten- 
tion was  immediately  directed  to  further  explorations 
into  the  undiscovered  country.  The  eastern  side  of  the 
Andes,  with  the  rich  plains  and  extensive  forests,  were 
an  unknown  region.  To  the  south  lay  the  high  and 

1 Letter  of  Francisco  de  Aguirre  to  the  Viceroy  Don  Francisco  de 
Toledo,  October  8,  1569. 


172  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

broken  tableland  of  Upper  Peru,  and  farther  on  towards 
the  south-east  the  inhospitable  wilderness  of  the  Gran 
Chaco,  which  embraced  the  region  about  the  rivers  Ber- 
mejo  and  Pilcomayo,  and  extended  to  the  Paraguay. 
The  most  important  of  the  numerous  expeditions  organised 
at  this  time  wTas  that  directed  to  the  land  of  the  Chunchos, 
about  the  rivers  Madre  de  Dios,  Mamore,  and  Madeira. 
This  was  under  the  command  of  Captain  Pedro  de  Candia, 
and  consisted  of  three  hundred  Spaniards,  chiefly  soldiers 
who  had  served  under  Almagro,  and  ten  thousand  Indians 
as  carriers  of  provisions  and  equipment.  The  hardships 
encountered  on  this  expedition  may  be  inferred  from  a 
survey  of  the  feeble  and  emaciated  remnant  that  returned 
to  the  shore  of  Lake  Titicaca  after  a fruitless  journey  of 
seven  hundred  leagues.  All  of  the  Indians  and  negroes 
had  perished  ; only  eighty  of  the  three  hundred  Spanish 
soldiers  had  survived  ; and  most  of  the  horses  and  dogs 
had  been  consumed  as  food.1 

To  this  period  belong  also  the  expedition  of  Gonzalo 
Pizarro  to  the  land  of  Cinnamon,  and  the  voyage  of  Fran- 
cisco de  Orellana  down  the  river  of  the  Amazons.  Almost 
from  the  first  discovery  of  Peru,  vehement  desires  arose 
in  Spain  for  information  concerning  the  great  river  of  the 
Amazons,  and  from  time  to  time  persons  appeared  among 
the  Spaniards  in  Peru  willing  to  join  expeditions  designed 
to  gather  the  information  desired.2 

1 A general  view  of  the  region  north  and  north-east  of  Lake  Titicaca, 
on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Andes,  may  be  derived  from  Markham’s 
Travels  in  Peru  and  India,  chap,  xii.-xvi. 

2 An  account  of  the  expeditions  organised  for  this  purpose  is  given 
in  the  Hakluyt  Society’s  volume  called  Expeditions  into  the  valley  of  the 
Amazons,  1859.  The  introduction  by  C.  R.  Markham  presents  an  his- 
torical sketch  of  these  expeditions,  which  is  followed  by  Garcilasso  de  la 
Vega’s  account  of  the  Expedition  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  to  the  land  of  Cinna- 
mon, 1539-42,  translated  from  the  Royal  Commentaries  of  Peru ; 
Antonio  de  Herrera’s  description  of  the  Voyage  of  Francisco  de  Orellana 
down  the  river  of  the  Amazons,  1540-41  ; and  Markham’s  transla- 
tion of  Acuna’s  New  Discovery  of  the  Great  River  of  the  Amazons,  from 
the  Spanish  edition  of  1641.  The  voyage  of  Acuna  follows  that  of 
Orellana  after  an  interval  of  about  a hundred  years,  and  was  about 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  173 

During  this  period  Aguirre  remained  in  Cuzco  in  the 
service  of  Pizarro  ; but  a little  later  we  find  both  Captain 
Aguirre  and  Captain  Valdivia  taking  part  in  an  expedi- 
tion to  the  valley  of  Cochabamba.  As  a result  of  this  ex- 
pedition the  Indians  of  Cochabamba  were  brought  into 
submission,  and  the  tact  displayed  by  Aguirre  in  this 
undertaking  caused  his  military  abilities  to  be  recognised. 
His  relation  to  Pizarro  at  this  time,  aside  from  the  per- 
sonal attachment  which  he  had  for  his  superior,  was 
similar  to  that  of  a feudal  vassal  to  his  overlord.  He 
provided  his  own  horses,  his  arms,  his  aides,  and  servants, 
and  received  no  salary.  His  expenses  were  met  with 
funds  brought  from  Spain,  while  some  of  the  other  leaders 
spent  in  their  expeditions  their  parts  of  the  booty  of  the 
conquest.  This  booty  was  the  source  of  the  funds  em- 
ployed by  Captain  Pedro  de  Candia  in  the  expedition  into 
the  territory  of  the  Chunehos  beyond  the  Andes. 

After  the  founding  of  the  city  of  La  Plata,  in  1539, 
Charcas,  the  central  part  of  modern  Bolivia,  was  governed, 
subject  to  the  authority  at  Lima,  by  Diego  de  Rojas.1 

A little  later  Rojas  undertook  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion to  the  Gran  Chaco,  inhabited  by  Chiriguanos,  and 


eighty  years  later  than  the  expedition  in  which  the  bloodthirsty  Lope 
de  Aguirre  figured.  The  history  of  it  as  given  by  Acuna  is,  however, 
“ the  earliest  published  account  of  the  river  Amazons  in  existence  ” 
(Markham).  It  was  printed  in  Madrid  in  1641.  A new  edition  is  cited 
as  published  in  Madrid  in  1659,  but,  according  to  the  bibliographical 
notice  in  the  Madrid  edition  of  1891,  no  copy  of  it  is  known  to  exist. 
A French  translation  was  published  in  Paris  by  Claude  Borbin,  in  1682 , re- 
issued in  1684  with  a new  title-page.  The  English  translation,  published 
in  London  in  1698,  is  said  to  be  “ full  of  omissions,  mistakes,  and  long 
interpolations  in  the  text.”  A German  translation  was  issued  in  Vienna 
in  1729.  Almost  the  whole  of  Acuna’s  work  is  incorporated  in  El 
Marandn  y Amazonas,  by  Manuel  Rodriguez  (Madrid,  1684),  pp.  101-41. 
The  new  edition  of  Madrid,  1891,  is  issued  as  the  second  volume  of  the 
Coleccion  de  libros  que  tratan  de  America  raros  o curiosos. 

1 Antonio  de  Herrera  affirms  that  Felipe  Gutierrez  was  the  first  in 
authority,  having  the  title  of  captain-general,  while  Rojas  held  the 
position  of  justicia-mayor  ; but  the  statement  of  Ruiz  Diaz  de  Guzman, 
that  Gutierrez  was  subordinated  to  Rojas,  appears  to  be  confirmed  by 
the  original  documents  relating  to  the  case.  See  note  by  Funes,  i.  70. 


174  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Aguirre  succeeded1  him  in  the  governorship  of  Charcas. 
In  this  office  there  fell  to  Aguirre  the  task  of  completing 
the  conquest,  or  pacification,  of  the  Indians  of  his  terri- 
tory. He  lived  at  La  Plata,  and  sent  small  detachments 
of  soldiers  to  put  down  the  different  uprisings  as  they 
appeared  from  time  to  time.  In  this  difficult  undertaking 
he  was  able  to  maintain  order  and  discipline  among  the 
troops,  who,  after  the  battle  of  Las  Salinas,  were  divided 
into  more  or  less  hostile  groups. 

The  expedition  to  the  Gran  Chaco  was  not  more  suc- 
cessful than  that  which  Captain  Candia  had  led  into  the 
territory  of  the  Chunchos.  Rojas  was  obliged  to  send 
to  Aguirre  for  assistance,  but  was  in  so  far  more  fortunate 
than  Candia  that  he  was  able  to  save  the  lives  of  his 
soldiers.  After  a year  of  profitless  sacrifice,  he  returned 
to  Cuzco,  in  1540,  to  make  a report  concerning  his  ex- 
pedition to  the  governor  of  Peru.  The  hardships,  the 
privations,  the  dangers  of  starvation,  which  the  Spanish 
soldiers  encountered,  did  not  cause  them  to  hesitate  to 
enter  upon  any  new  expedition.  When,  therefore,  it  was 
announced  that  Valdivia  was  to  lead  a company  of  soldiers 
and  settlers  across  the  deserts  of  Atacama  and  Tarapaca 
to  Chile,  the  project  seemed  as  attractive  to  these  hardened 
pioneers  as  if  they  had  never  faced  fever  and  starvation 
in  the  swamps  and  wilderness  of  the  Chaco. 


II 

Valdivia  found  that  his  appointment  to  be  the  chief 
of  the  proposed  expedition  to  Chile  carried  with  it  the 
duty  of  providing  his  own  soldiers,  their  arms,  equipment, 
and  maintenance.  At  the  same  time  he  discovered  that 

1 Wilcocke,  in  his  History  of  the  Viceroyalty  of  Buenos  Aires,  423, 
says  the  Chiriguanos  were  " a nation  scattered  over  several  districts  of 
the  provinces  of  Santa  Cruz  de  la  Sierra,  las  Charcas,  and  Chacu  ; and 
arc  most  inveterate  enemies  of  the  Spaniards.  They  appear  to  have 
originally  come  from  Paraguay  and  the  confines  of  Brazil.” 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  175 

concessions  had  been  made  by  the  crown  to  other  persons 
to  make  conquests,  and  these  were  of  such  a character  that 
they  might  interfere  with  the  execution  of  his  plans. 
One  of  these  concessionaries  was  Pedro  Sancho  de  Hoz, 
who  had  already  arrived  in  Lima.  In  order  to  set  aside 
all  embarrassment  that  might  arise  from  this  source,  Pizarro 
induced  Valdivia  and  Sancho  de  Hoz  to  form  an  agree- 
ment to  co-operate,  under  which  Sancho  de  Hoz  undertook 
to  furnish  certain  supplies  that  were  wanting.  But  the 
agreement  itself,  dividing  the  leadership,  might  very  well 
have  been  fatal  to  the  successful  execution  of  the  project. 
The  element  that  prevented  failure  was  Valdivia’s  in- 
domitable will  and  his  sagacity  as  a leader. 

Valdivia  left  Cuzco  in  January  1540.  His  route  led 
through  Puno,  Arequipa,  Arica,  and  Tarapaca.  His  force 
consisted  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards,  including 
the  infantry  and  the  cavalry,  with  about  a thousand 
Indians  to  carry  the  baggage.  By  the  route  chosen  he 
avoided  the  difficulties  of  the  mountain  passes,  and  the 
cold  that  would  have  been  experienced  in  crossing.  There 
was  one  woman  in  the  company,  Inez  Suarez,  “ bound  to 
Valdivia  by  the  ties  of  love.”  While  at  Tarapaca  the 
company  was  increased  bj^  the  addition  of  a number  of 
Spaniards  who  had  come  over  the  cordillera  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Juan  Bohon.  The  greater  part  of 
these  had  served  under  Rojas,  and  had  been  scattered 
after  that  leader’s  unfortunate  expedition.  Valdivia  left 
Tarapaca  in  June  1540,  and  from  that  point  the  way  led 
over  long  stretches  of  sterile  deserts  ; first  to  the  well  of 
Tamentica,  then  across  the  brackish  stream  of  Loa  to 
Calama,  and  beyond  to  the  little  valley  of  Chiu-Chiu. 
Having  established  a temporary  camp  in  this  valley,  Val- 
divia, accompanied  by  ten  soldiers,  went  on  to  explore 
in  person  the  oasis  of  San  Pedro,  or  Atacama  la  Grande, 
thirty  leagues  beyond  Chiu-Chiu.  He  wished  to  find  a 
place  that  offered  conditions  favourable  for  a long  halt, 
and  for  the  support  and  recuperation  of  his  followers.  In 


176  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

this  he  was  successful,  for  at  the  end  of  his  journey  he 
discovered  a little  stream  of  delicious  water,  which  was 
bordered  by  rich  vegetation.  Here  he  found  also  his 
former  companion-in-arms,  Francisco  de  Aguirre.  Two 
other  persons  who  were  to  have  important  parts  in  the 
history  of  the  colony  joined  the  expedition  on  the  journey. 
These  were  Francisco  de  Villagra  and  Rodrigo  de  Quiroga. 

But  Pedro  Sancho  de  Hoz,  whose  arrival  had  been 
expected,  had  not  appeared.  By  reason  of  his  lack  of 
funds  and  the  persistent  demands  of  his  creditors,  he  found 
it  impossible  to  meet  the  obligations  he  had  assumed  in 
connection  with  the  expedition.  He  did  not,  however, 
abandon  all  hope  of  participating  in  it.  After  his  arrival 
he  formed  a conspiracy  with  four  other  persons  to  arrest 
or  assassinate  Valdivia,  and  assume  the  command.  But 
when  the  conspirators  appeared  at  the  tent  of  Valdivia  to 
execute  their  design,  they  found  Inez  Suarez  and  some  of 
the  officers,  but  not  the  chief.  Sancho  de  Hoz  was  ar- 
rested, and  compelled  to  renounce  his  agreement  with 
Valdivia.  Three  of  his  associates  were  sent  back  to  Peru, 
and  one  of  them  was  retained  as  a member  of  the  company. 
This  gave  Valdivia  the  sole  and  undisputed  control  of  the 
expedition. 

After  the  disastrous  expedition  to  the  region  of  the 
Chiriguanos,  and  the  departure  of  Rojas  for  Lima,  Aguirre 
had  remained  in  Upper  Peru  in  command  of  a small  de- 
tachment of  twenty-five  soldiers.  The  knowledge  that 
had  been  gained  through  the  expeditions  to  the  Chunchos 
and  the  Chiriguanos  discouraged,  for  the  time  being,  any 
further  exploration  in  the  country  inhabited  by  these 
tribes.  There  was  then  nothing  in  view  more  attractive 
than  the  expedition  to  Chile  ; and  as  Aguirre  received  no 
remuneration  for  services  which  he  was  rendering,  he 
determined  to  leave  the  Charcas  and  join  the  followers  of 
Valdivia.  He  took  with  him  twenty-five  soldiers,  passed 
through  Tupiza,  crossed  the  Andes,  following  in  some 
part  the  route  of  Almagro,  and  finally  joined  Valdivia  at 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  177 

the  oasis  of  Atacama  la  Grande.  He  immediately  en- 
rolled his  soldiers  in  the  forces  of  Valdivia,  and  placed 
himself  under  the  command  of  that  leader. 

Largely  through  the  foresight  and  efforts  of  Aguirre, 
sufficient  food  for  both  men  and  animals  had  been  gathered 
to  warrant  entering  upon  the  last  and  most  dangerous  stage 
of  the  journey,  the  five  hundred  miles  of  desert  between 
Copiapo  and  their  camp  at  Atacama  la  Grande.  On  this 
part  of  the  journey  camps  for  the  night  were  determined 
by  the  few  places  where  there  were  little  wells  or  springs, 
but  these  usually  furnished  only  a limited  quantity  of 
water,  and  that  sometimes  of  a poor  quality.  This 
expedition,  however,  had  the  good  fortune  to  reach  the 
fertile  valley  of  Copiapo  in  September  without  losing  a 
soldier  or  any  of  the  horses.  A few  of  the  Indians,  how- 
ever, succumbed  to  the  fatigues  of  the  march,  and  died 
on  the  desert.  On  arriving  in  the  valley  of  Copiapo, 
Valdivia  caused  the  flag  of  Spain  to  be  raised,  made  a 
formal  declaration  of  taking  possession  of  the  country 
before  the  notary  of  the  expedition,  and  performed  all 
the  ceremonies  incident  to  establishing  Spanish  authority. 

During  the  three  months  spent  here,  from  the  middle 
of  September  to  the  middle  of  December,  the  Spaniards 
were  frequently  attacked  by  the  Indians,  who  remem- 
bered the  treatment  they  had  received  at  the  hands 
of  Almagro. 

The  next  stage  of  the  journey  brought  Valdivia  and 
his  followers  to  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Santiago. 
A plan  was  made  for  the  town,  and  one  of  the  squares  was 
set  apart  for  the  plaza.  Provision  was  made  on  two  sides 
of  the  plaza  for  the  church  and  the  house  of  the  governor. 
The  lots  on  the  other  two  sides  were  taken  by  the  principal 
captains,  those  on  the  east  falling  to  Francisco  de  Aguirre. 
For  several  months  after  having  established  the  plan  of 
the  city  the  Spaniards  went  on  with  their  city-building 
free  from  any  disturbance  from  the  Indians.  Valdivia 
created  a cabildo,  or  the  traditional  governing  body  of  a 
VOL.  1.  M 


1 78  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

municipality.  This  government  was  organised  on  March 
7,  1541,  and  Aguirre  became  the  first  alcalde.  In  order 
that  Valdivia  might  exercise  independent  authority,  and 
not  be  regarded  as  merely  a lieutenant  of  Pizarro,  he  was 
elected  governor  by  the  cabildo,  and  in  this  capacity  was 
held  to  be  head  of  the  colony,  and  directly  subject  to  the 
king  of  Spain.1 

Aguirre  continued  to  be  a resident  of  Santiago  for  nine 
years,  and  during  this  period  he  was  the  first  alcalde  in 
the  years  1541,  1545,  and  1549,  and  a regidor,  or  member 
of  the  council,  for  the  years  1542,  1544,  1546,  and  1547. 
During  this  time  he  was,  moreover,  charged  with  import- 
ant commissions  or  trusts.  He  was  made  public  adminis- 
trator, and  also  factor  real,  or  treasurer  in  charge  of  the 
funds  belonging  to  the  Crown — such  funds,  for  example, 
as  the  royal  fifths  paid  from  the  product  of  the  mines. 

The  peace  which  attended  the  beginning  of  the  town 
was  not  long  continued.  Six  months  later  the  Indians 
rose  and  made  war  on  the  invaders.  Lighted  brands  were 
thrown  upon  the  grass  roofs  of  the  little  wooden  houses, 
and  all  the  buildings,  except  the  quarters  for  the  soldiers, 
were  destroyed.  These  were  defended  by  Aguirre,  who 
came  out  of  the  fight  severely  wounded.  The  new  houses 
that  were  constructed  after  the  first  had  been  burned, 
were  built  of  adobes,  and  the  roofs  were  covered  with  tiles. 
The  Indians  continued  for  a short  time  to  be  a source  of 
disturbance,  and  Aguirre  often  led  out  a troop  of  Spanish 
soldiers  to  make  war  on  them.  The  punishment  which 
he  inflicted  was  sometimes  severe,  for  he  wras  a warrior 
who  fought  for  results,  and  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  the 
game.  The  arrival  of  seventy  mounted  men  as  recruits 

1 The  action  of  this  newly-organised  cabildo  becomes  intelligible 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  ancient  Spanish  municipality  and  its 
descendants  in  the  early  decades  of  the  Spanish  colonisation  in  America 
were  endowed  with  a power  much  broader  than  that  exercised  by 
municipalities  at  present.  They  could  intervene  in  the  political  affairs 
of  the  province  or  colony,  " en  muclios  casos  a contrarrestar  los  ordenes 
del  jefi.'’ — Gay,  Historia  de  Chile,  i.  142. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  179 

from  Peru,  under  Alonso  de  Monroy,  removed  all  doubts 
from  the  Spaniards  as  to  their  ability  to  defend  themselves. 
A little  later,  Aguirre,  at  the  head  of  a strong  garrison, 
was  stationed  in  the  province  of  Itata  to  prevent  the 
Indians  from  passing  northward.  This  was  in  1543,  and 
explains  the  absence  of  his  name  from  the  list  of  members 
of  the  cabildo  for  that  year. 

As  soon  as  peace  was  established,  Valdivia  proceeded 
to  distribute  the  lands  of  the  region  among  the  most  im- 
portant of  his  followers,  thus  introducing  here  that  form  of 
feudalism  which  became  general  throughout  the  Spanish 
colonies,  known  as  the  system  of  encomiendas,  the  holder 
of  the  fief  being  called  the  encomendero.  The  encomen- 
dero  was  the  feudal  lord  over  a valley  or  some  other  con- 
siderable tract  of  the  country,  and  of  the  Indians  who 
inhabited  it.  In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  his  grant, 
he  was  to  be  prepared  for  war,  furnishing  his  own  horses 
and  arms.  He  was  expected  to  keep  the  roads  and  bridges 
in  repair,  and  to  care  for  the  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  Indians  of  his  territory. 

In  spite  of  their  nominal  position  as  feudal  lords,  the 
Spaniards  led,  in  these  early  years,  a mean  and  narrow 
existence.  They  were  isolated  ; little  or  no  information 
came  to  them  from  Peru  or  Spain  ; they  had  given  up  their 
hopes  of  suddenly  acquiring  great  wealth  by  plundering 
another  Inca  kingdom  ; and  they  were  compelled  to  seek 
their  maintenance  in  agriculture  and  mining. 

In  1546  Valdivia  returned  to  Peru,  leaving  Francisco 
de  Villagra1  as  acting  governor.  An  intercepted  letter, 
asking  the  assistance  of  a person  in  Santiago,  showed 


1 Barros  Arana  calls  this  conquistador  Villagran,  but  the  facsimile 
of  the  signature,  which  is  printed  opposite  p.  8S  of  the  second  volume 
of  his  Historia  jeneral  de  Chile,  appears  to  justify  the  omission  of  the 
final  “ n."  Moreover,  Captain  Alonso  de  Gongora  Marmolejo,  who 
served  under  Pedro  de  Valdivia,  always  writes  the  name  “ Villagra,” 
in  his  Historia  de  Chile.  The  text  of  Gongora  Marmolejo  here  referred 
to  is  that  published  by  the  Real  Academia  de  la  Historia,  Madrid,  1852  ; 
see  p.  27,  note. 


i8o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


Villagra  that  Sancho  de  Hoz  had  come  from  his  retirement 
in  the  country,  and  had  prepared  a revolt  to  overthrow 
the  government.  A consultation  in  the  house  of  Aguirre 
between  Aguirre  and  Villagra,  in  view  of  the  former 
murderous  attempt  of  Sancho  de  Hoz,  left  no  doubt  in 
the  mind  of  either  as  to  what  action  should  be  taken  ; and 
while  they  were  here,  an  officer  brought  in  Sancho  de  Hoz 
as  a prisoner.  When  Villagra  showed  him  the  letter,  the 
prisoner  begged  for  mercy,  and  asked  to  be  thrown  upon 
a desert  island  where  he  might  do  penance  for  his  sins. 
The  rest  may  be  told  in  the  words  of  the  notary,  Luis  de 
Cartagena : 

“ Francisco  de  Villagra  called  Juan  Gomez,  the  high 
constable,  who  was  there  in  the  patio  of  the  house,  and 
ordered  him  to  take  Pedro  Sancho  de  Hoz  and  put  him 
in  a room  of  the  house  and  cut  off  his  head  ; and  thus  the 
high  constable  took  Pedro  Sancho,  and  a negro  slave  who 
was  called  there,  and  made  him  tie  the  prisoner’s  hands 
behind  his  back  and  told  him  to  cut  off  the  prisoner’s 
head. 

“ The  negro  was  disturbed,  and  not  having  a knife  or 
anything  else  with  which  he  could  cut  it  off,  the  constable 
took  his  sword  which  he  carried  at  his  belt,  and  gave  it  to 
the  slave,  with  which  the  slave  cut  off  the  head  of  Pedro 
Sancho  de  Hoz.  Then  they  took  him  to  the  plaza,  and 
Francisco  de  Villagra  commanded  that  the  crime  should 
be  proclaimed  by  the  voice  of  the  crier,  saying  : * This 
is  the  justice  which  is  ordered  by  his  Majesty  and  the  very 
excellent  Senor  Francisco  de  Villagra,  lieutenant-governor 
and  superior  judge  of  these  provinces  of  Chile,  to  this  re- 
volutionist and  mutineer  against  the  service  of  his 
Majesty.’  ” 1 

This  summary  justice  put  an  end  to  the  mutiny.  It 
ended,  moreover,  the  pretensions  of  Sancho  de  Hoz  to 
share  the  leadership  in  the  colony  with  Valdivia.  The 
other  important  subject  that  occupied  the  Spaniards  in 

1 Quoted  by  Lezacla,  in  El  Conquistador  Francisco  de  Aguirre,  75. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  181 

Chile  during  the  absence  of  Valdivia  was  the  hostilities  of 
the  Indians  in  the  northern  provinces.  A troop  of  Spanish 
soldiers  under  Juan  Bohon  was  cut  down  in  December 
1548,  Bohon  alone  being  taken  alive,  and  he  was  after- 
wards killed  with  great  cruelty.  Not  long  after  this  event 
the  Indians  attacked  and  burnt  the  town  of  Serena,  killing 
all  the  inhabitants  but  two  Spaniards.  When  Villagra 
went  to  restore  order  in  this  region,  Aguirre  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  government  of  Santiago.  It  was  feared 
that  in  the  uprising,  which  threatened  to  be  general 
throughout  the  country,  the  weakened  colony  would  be 
overwhelmed  and  utterly  annihilated.  While  the  in- 
habitants were  thus  depressed  in  spirit,  their  hopes  were 
suddenly  revived  by  the  news  that  Valdivia  had  arrived 
in  Valparaiso,  returning  from  Peru  after  an  absence  of  a 
year  and  a half,  and  that  he  had  brought  with  him  three 
hundred  soldiers.  Valdivia  had,  moreover,  during  this 
long  visit  in  Peru,  secured  through  Gasca  the  royal  con- 
firmation of  his  title  as  Governor  of  Chile.1  Immediately 
after  he  landed,  his  efforts  were  directed  to  subduing  the 
natives  of  the  north,  and  establishing  a city  in  place 
of  the  Serena  that  had  been  burned  ; and  for  this  under- 
taking he  selected  Francisco  de  Aguirre.  A few  days 
later  he  confirmed  the  encomiendas  that  had  been 
granted  to  Aguirre  in  the  valley  of  Mapocho  and  in 
the  valley  of  Cachapoal  in  1544  ; and,  in  addition,  he 
conferred  upon  him  the  fiefs  of  Copiapo  and  Coquimbo. 
The  former  had  been  made  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Bohon,  and  the  latter  had  been  held  by  Valdivia. 
Aguirre  thus  became  the  founder  of  the  permanent  city 
of  Serena  ; and  he  received  the  position  and  title  of 
lieutenant-governor. 

The  task  which  Aguirre  had  to  face  appeared  to  be 
both  difficult  and  dangerous.  The  Indians  had  killed  the 

1 Concerning  the  charges  against  Valdivia  and  his  trial  in  Lima,  see 
Barros  Arana,  Historia  jeneral  de  Chile,  i.  324-27  ; also  Proceso  de 
V aldivia. 


1 82  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


considerable  force  under  the  command  of  Bohon,  even  to 
the  last  man,  as  well  as  the  Indian  auxiliaries  who  had  come 
with  the  soldiers  from  Peru  ; they  had  swept  out  of  exist- 
ence the  town  of  Serena,  and,  rendered  bolder  by  their 
successes,  they  had  made  the  reconquest  of  that  region 
appear  like  a perilous  undertaking.  When,  therefore, 
Aguirre  left  Santiago  in  August  1549,  with  only  thirty 
men,  the  expedition  seemed  to  those  not  involved  in 
it  like  a foolhardy  adventure.  He  was  attacked  by  the 
Indians  while  on  the  journey,  but  his  resistance  and  furious 
onslaughts  on  the  enemy  spread  terror  among  them.  He 
selected  a site  for  the  new  city,  organised  a government 
for  it,  left  there  the  bulk  of  his  force  as  a garrison,  and, 
with  a little  band  of  only  eleven  men,  started  on  a tour 
of  “ pacification  ” through  the  country.  He  evidently 
washed  to  show  the  natives  some  of  the  consequences  they 
might  expect  from  a murderous  uprising.  “ For  six 
months  he  traversed  the  extensive  regions  of  Coquimbo 
and  Copiapo,  making  on  the  Indians  a war  of  surprises 
and  horrible  punishments,  which  spread  a panic  among 
them.  He  rushed  upon  them  in  their  most  secluded 
haunts  at  the  moment  when  they  least  expected  it,  and, 
having  put  to  the  sword  those  he  met  defending  them- 
selves, shut  up  in  their  straw  huts  as  prisoners  men,  women, 
and  children,  and  immediately  set  fire  to  their  habitations, 
thus  causing  the  miserable  wretches  to  perish  under  the 
most  horrible  tortures.”  1 Aguirre’s  progress  through 
the  valleys  left  desolation  in  its  track.  The  sentiment  of 
horror  which  it  awakened  was  somewhat  tempered  at  the 
time  by  the  recollection  of  the  barbarities  which,  a few 
months  before,  the  Indians  had  inflicted  on  Bohon  and 
his  followers,  and  on  the  inhabitants  of  Serena.  The 
surviving  natives  were  impressed  with  the  fact  that  it  was 
advisable  to  maintain  peace,  at  least  as  long  as  Aguirre 
remained  in  the  country.  “ After  these  events,”  to  quote 
Lezaeta,  “ the  northern  part  of  Chile  was  definitely  pacified 

1 Lezaeta,  90. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  183 

in  such  a manner  that  the  Spaniards  might  travel  in  all 
directions  without  any  fear  whatsoever.”  1 

The  Indians  were  not  merely  pacified  ; they  became 
submissive  to  their  new  masters,  worked  in  the  mines  and 
on  the  cultivated  lands,  and  through  their  labour  the 
northern  settlement  attained  a marked  degree  of  pros- 
perity. But  in  1552  Aguirre  was  called  away  to  a new 
undertaking.  Valdivia  appointed  him  governor  of  Tucu- 
man.  The  immediate  reason  for  this  appointment  was 
the  information  which  Valdivia  had  received,  that  the  town 
of  Barco  had  been  founded  by  Nunez  de  Prado,  and  that 
this  town  lay  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction.  Under 
this  appointment  Aguirre  was  to  be  “ captain-general  and 
governor  of  the  said  city  of  Barco  and  La  Serena  and  their 
territories  and  the  other  cities  that  had  been  founded,  or  that 
you  may  found,  in  that  region,  within  the  li  mi  ts  of  my  grant . ” 2 
After  his  return  from  Peru,  Valdivia  entered  upon  his 
campaigns  against  the  Araucanians,  looking  forward  to 
the  execution  of  his  plan  to  extend  his  conquests  to  the 
southern  end  of  the  continent.  In  these  years  the  colony 
received  numerous  additions  from  Peru,  which  made  it 
possible  for  the  governor  to  found  the  cities  of  Concepcion, 
Imperial,  and  Valdivia.  The  success  achieved  by  Pizarro 
in  dealing  with  the  dependent  and  feebler  Indians  of  the 
Inca’s  dominions  did  not  furnish  a reliable  guide  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  proceeding  against  the  Indians  of  the  south. 
Valdivia  was  apparently  ignorant  of  the  force  of  resistance 
he  was  to  encounter.  Even  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of 
Tucapel  he  had  little  or  no  knowledge  of  the  numbers  and 
discipline  of  the  enemy  that  was  awaiting  his  attack,  and 
that  finally  overwhelmed  him  and  his  followers.  He  died, 
not  on  the  field,  as  a soldier  who  faces  his  end  might  wish 
to  die,  but  after  prolonged  tortures  invented  by  cruel  and 
outraged  savages. 

1 El  Conquistador  Francisco  dc  Aguirre,  92. 

2 Decree  appointing  Aguirre  Governor  of  Tucuman,  printed  by 
Lezaeta,  94-6. 


184  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Valdivia  left  no  heirs  on  whom  the  achievements  of 
an  heroic  ancestor  might  reflect  distinction.  His  wife, 
whom  he  had  left  in  Spain  in  1535,  informed  that  the  war 
was  over,  embarked  for  America,  expecting  a large  measure 
of  satisfaction  from  the  triumph  and  high  position  of  her 
husband.  She  arrived  at  Nombre  de  Dios  in  the  middle 
of  1554,  to  find  her  husband  dead  and  the  castle  of  her 
imagination  destroyed.1 


Ill 

The  interior  of  the  continent,  the  territory  of  Bolivia 
and  the  central  and  north-western  part  of  the  territory  of 
the  Argentine  Republic,  was  explored  and  occupied  by 
expeditions  proceeding  from  Peru  and  Chile.  The  first 
efforts  to  possess  this  region  and  bring  the  inhabitant 
into  subjection  to  the  Spaniards  were  not  strikingly  suc- 
cessful. La  Plata  was  founded,  and  Diego  de  Rojas  and 
his  associates  engaged  in  various  conflicts  with  the 
natives,  and  explored  some  part  of  the  Gran  Chaco,  but 
under  them  we  observe  only  the  feeblest  beginnings  of 
civilisation.  For  several  years  after  them,  the  country 
offered  no  effective  attraction  to  Spanish  settlers.  In 
1549  Pedro  de  la  Gasca,  seeking  to  bestow  suitable  re- 
wards upon  his  adherents,  after  the  suppression  of  Gonzalo 
Pizarro’s  rebellion,  appointed  Juan  Nunez  de  Prado  to  the 
governorship  of  Tucuman,  which  was  a region  of  indefi- 
nite boundaries,  but  which  was  generally  conceived  to 
embrace  the  territory  of  the  southern  part  of  Bolivia  and 
of  the  northern  part  of  the  Argentine  Republic. 

In  going  to  establish  himself  at  his  new  post,  Nunez 
de  Prado  passed  through  the  valleys  of  Tupiza,  Jujuy, 
and  Chicoana,  and  fixed  upon  a site  that  might  serve  as 
the  seat  of  his  government.  This  was  near  the  river  Es- 

1 " Relaci6n  hecha  por  Pedro  de  Valdivia  al  Emperador  dAndole 
cuenta  de  lo  sucedido  en  el  descubrimiento,  conquista  y poblacion  de 
Chile  y en  su  viaje  al  Peru,”  Doc.  in6d.t  iv.  5-77,  78-84. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  185 

caba,  somewhat  west  of  the  place  where  the  city  of  Santiago 
del  Estero  was  subsequently  built.  He  gave  the  name  of 
Barco  to  the  town  which  he  founded,  thinking  thereby  to 
do  honour  to  Barco  de  Avila  in  Spain,  the  birthplace  of 
Pedro  de  la  Gasca.  Here  he  built  a fort,  gathered  recruits 
from  some  of  the  settlements  of  Upper  Peru,  and  made  pre- 
parations to  “ pacify  and  convert  ” the  Indians.  The 
attack  made  by  some  of  the  followers  of  Prado  on  the 
troops  of  Villagra,  who  was  passing  through  this  region  on 
the  way  to  Chile,  was  an  unpromising  beginning.  It  in- 
troduced hostilities  between  the  settlers  of  Chile  and  the 
newly-arrived  inhabitants  of  Tucuman. 

Inasmuch  as  Prado  was  established  in  Tucuman  by 
President  Gasca,  he  naturally  regarded  the  government 
of  Peru  as  his  political  superior.  But  Valdivia  held  that 
this  territory  lay  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction,  and 
in  order  to  realise  this  view  in  practice,  he  appointed  Fran- 
cisco de  Aguirre  to  take  possession  of  Tucuman.  By  the 
8th  of  November  1552,  Aguirre,  who  was  then  in  Chile, 
was  ready  to  begin  his  march  across  the  Andes  ; and  in 
December  he  was  at  Barco.  When  he  reached  the  settle- 
ment, Nunez  de  Prado  was  absent,  but  he  arrested  him  on 
his  return,  and  sent  him  as  prisoner  to  Chile.  A number 
of  Prado’s  men  were  also  taken  and  sent  to  Lima.  In  this 
way  the  province  of  Tucuman  passed  under  the  authority 
of  the  new  governor,  and  its  officers  were  thus  brought 
to  recognise  the  superiority  of  the  Chilean  government. 

In  so  far  as  Prado  had  a recognisable  policy,  it  aimed 
to  develop  civilisation  among  the  Indians  by  peaceful 
means.  The  change  of  governors  brought  to  the  colony 
the  energetic  administration  of  Aguirre,  which  Paul 
Groussac  describes  as  a reign  of  terror.1  The  new  gover- 
nor introduced  the  system  of  encomiendas,  and  distri- 
buted the  natives  among  fifty-six  of  his  adherents.  In 
this  respect,  he  made  his  policy  conform  to  the  policy 
generally  carried  out  at  that  time  in  Spanish  America. 

1 Memoria  de  la  Provincia  de  Tucuman,  38. 


186  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


But  here,  as  in  all  cases  where  Europeans  have  estab- 
lished colonies  among  tribes  of  the  less  developed  races, 
there  were  two  parties  to  be  satisfied.  The  colonists  were 
pleased  with  the  interest,  zeal,  and  judgment  displayed 
by  Aguirre  in  their  behalf,  but  the  Indians  found  his  rule 
oppressive  and  cruel. 

Aguirre’s  treatment  of  the  Indians  provoked  rebellion  ; 
and  when  the  colonists,  considering  the  great  number  of 
the  enemy,  found  it  impossible  to  withstand  them,  they 
abandoned  the  town  of  Barco,  and  retired  beyond  the 
river  Dulce,  where,  in  1553,  they  founded  the  town  of 
Santiago  del  Estero.  In  view  of  the  hostile  relations  thus 
established  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  Indians,  there 
appeared  to  be  no  alternative  to  the  arbitrary  exercise  of 
force,  and  the  Spaniards  very  naturally  adopted  the  policy 
of  repression  which  had  been  carried  out  elsewhere. 

In  view  of  the  large  expenditures  from  his  own  funds 
which  Aguirre  had  made  in  planting  and  maintaining 
the  colony,  and  the  approval  of  his  administration  which 
the  colonists  had  expressed,  it  was  natural  that  he  should 
be  moved  by  the  aspiration  to  be  independent  of  Val- 
divia, and  to  be  brought  as  governor  of  Tucuman  directly 
under  the  king.  Therefore,  in  a letter  to  Charles  V, 
December  23,  1553,  he  recalled  to  the  mind  of  the  monarch 
the  twenty  years  of  service  which  he  had  given  to  the 
conquest  of  Peru  and  Cuzco  ; the  colonisation  of  the 
Charcas,  which  he  had  ruled  and  governed  for  two  years 
under  the  command  of  Pizarro  ; the  mines  he  had  dis- 
covered ; the  conquest  and  pacification  of  Chile  ; and, 
finally,  the  maintenance  of  the  province  of  Tucuman, 
where  he  then  was.  In  all  of  these  undertakings  he  had 
expended  a large  amount  of  his  own  property  ; and  in 
consequence  he  asked  the  emperor  to  bestow  upon  him 
Tucuman  with  the  other  favours  which  the  emperor  was 
accustomed  to  confer  upon  his  loyal  vassals.1 

1 Lczaeta,  El  Conquistador  Francisco  de  Aguirre,  124.  See  Francisco 
de  Aguirre  en  Tucuman,  a document  containing  abundant  evidence 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CHILE  187 

Aguirre  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  in  Tucuman  about  a year  and  a half  when  mes- 
sengers from  Chile  brought  to  him  news  of  the  death  of 
Valdivia.  They  brought  also  letters  from  Aguirre’s 
friends  in  Chile,  suggesting  that  he  should  assume  the 
office  made  vacant  by  Valdivia’s  death.  This  suggestion 
was  based  on  the  fact  that  Valdivia’s  will  named  the  per- 
sons to  whom,  in  order,  the  office  should  descend.  These 
were  Jeronimo  de  Alderete,  Francisco  de  Aguirre,  and 
Francisco  de  Villagra.  Alderete  was  then  in  Spain,  and 
the  authority  seemed  to  fall  very  naturally  to  Aguirre. 
Therefore,  in  1554,  he  returned  to  Chile,  and  many  of  the 
colonists,  who  were  anxious  to  leave  Tucuman,  found  in 
the  absence  of  the  governor  a pretext  for  abandoning  the 
proposed  conquest.  Some  of  them  went  to  Chile,  and 
others  found  their  way  back  to  Peru.1 

concerning  Juan  Nunez  de  Prado  and  the  advent  and  character  of 
Francisco  de  Aguirre,  published  by  Jose  Toribio  Medina,  Santiago  de 
Chile,  1896  ; also  Juan  Nunez  de  Prado  y Francisco  de  Villagran  en  la 
cuidad  del  Barco,  published  by  Jose  Toribio  Medina,  Santiago  de  Chile, 
1896. 

1 Funes,  Ensayo  historico,  i.  109. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA 

I.  Solis  and  Cabot.  II.  Mendoza’s  settlement  at  Buenos  Aires. 
III.  The  foundation  of  Asuncion  in  Paraguay.  IV.  The  Chronicle 
of  the  governors  of  Asuncion. 

1 

While  Pizarro  and  his  associates  were  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  Spanish  authority  in  Peru,  Chile,  and  Tucuman, 
other  Spaniards  were  establishing  settlements  on  the  Rio 
de  la  Plata  and  the  Paraguay.  The  explorers  of  this 
region,  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  like  many 
of  the  other  explorers  of  the  eastern  coast  of  America, 
hoped  to  find  a passage  through  the  newly-discovered 
continent  to  the  lands  of  the  Far  East.  Juan  Diaz  de 
Solis  had  this  end  in  view  when  he  entered  the  Rio  de 
la  Plata,  where  he  was  murdered  by  the  Indians  in  1516. 1 
Sebastian  Cabot  was  in  pursuit  of  the  same  object  when 
he  explored  this  region  ten  years  later,  in  1526.  He 
constructed  two  small  vessels,  and  prepared  to  ascend  the 
river  ; but,  as  he  proceeded  into  the  narrow  waters,  the 
hope  of  reaching  the  Pacific  by  this  route  vanished.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Carcaranal  he  landed  and  formed  the 
community  called  San  Espiritu,  the  first  Spanish  settle- 
ment in  this  part  of  America.  He  left  a number  of  men 
here,  and  continued  his  voyage  of  exploration  towards 
the  north.  He  went  first  up  the  Parana  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  beyond  its  junction  with  the  Para- 
guay ; then  having  returned  to  the  confluence  of  these 
two  great  rivers,  he  ascended  the  Paraguay  above  the  site 

1 Medina,  J.  T.,  Juan  Diaz  de  Solis,  i.  cclxxxiii. 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  189 

on  which  was  later  founded  the  city  of  Asuncion.  The 
hope  of  making  this  stream  the  highway  over  which 
should  be  carried  the  silver  from  Peru,  induced  Cabot  to 
send  messengers  to  Spain  for  further  assistance.  But 
this  region,  however  fertile  its  soil  and  salubrious  its 
climate,  had  few  attractions  for  the  Spaniards,  and  news 
from  it  aroused  in  them  no  enthusiasm.  They  were  not 
anxious  to  possess  lands  which  offered  wealth  only  as  the 
reward  of  the  patient  and  persistent  labour  of  the  herds- 
man and  the  agriculturist  ; consequently  the  reinforce- 
ments which  Cabot  asked  for  were  never  received.  In 
1530  Cabot  returned  to  Spain  to  impress  upon  the  king 
the  importance  of  the  territory  he  had  added  to  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  crown.  His  services  were  recognised  ; he 
was  raised  again  to  the  position  of  chief  pilot ; and  in 
this  office  he  continued,  for  the  remaining  thirty  years  of 
his  life,  the  general  director  of  Spanish  expeditions  to 
foreign  lands.1 

While  Cabot  was  making  his  explorations,  the  delayed 
expedition  of  Diego  Garda  arrived,  but  the  leader,  finding 
the  field  occupied  by  one  who  was  not  disposed  to  make 
concessions  to  a rival,  soon  returned  to  Spain.2 

The  colony  which  Cabot  had  established  at  San  Es- 
piritu  had  the  hard  fate  that  attended  all  of  the  early 
attempts  to  occitpy  the  region  of  Rio  do  la  Plata.  The 


1 Medina,  Jose  Toribio,  El  Veneciano  Sebastian  Caboto  al  Servicio 

de  Espaiia,  two  volumes  quarto,  Santiago  de  Chile,  1908.  Vol.  i.  1-413 
text;  415-549  documents  ; 551-608  Bibliografia  Hispano-Cabotiana. 

Vol.  ii.  1-597  documents.  The  bibliography  by  Medina  is  in  large  part 
additional  to  the  Cabot  Bibliography  (London,  1900),  by  George  Parker 
Winship.  Funes,  Ensayo  de  la  Historia  civil  de  Buenos  Aires,  Tucuman 
y Paraguay  (Buenos  Aires,  1856),  i,  1-3  ; Lettre  de  Louis  Ramirez  on 
Sebastian  Cabot,  Melanges  sur  Amerique,  Nat.  Lib.  Paris  (P.  Angrand, 
1373)- 

2 See  Medina,  J.  T.,  Los  Viages  de  Diego  Garcia  de  Moguer  al  Rio  de 
la  Plata  (Santiago  de  Chile,  1908).  Garcia  left  Coruna  August  15,  1527. 
— Medina,  Diego  Garcia,  94.  For  an  account  of  the  controversy  be- 
tween Garcia  and  Cabot,  see  ibid.  cap.  ix.  Cabot  “ alegaba  que  61  tenia 
la  primacia  en  el  dcscubrimicnto  del  lio,  y que,  asi,  aquella  conqtiista  era 
suya,  ordenando  & Garcia  que  saliese.” — Ibid.,  121. 


i9o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

company  left  at  this  settlement  by  Cabot  on  his  return  to 
Spain,  according  to  Diaz  de  Guzman,  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  soldiers,  in  charge  of  Captain  Nuno 
de  Lara,  and  many  other  persons,  including  a number  of 
women.  In  the  absence  of  forty  members  of  the  com- 
pany, who  had  gone  to  a neighbouring  island  for  food,  in 
1532,  the  Indians  stormed  the  fort,  and  killed  all  the 
occupants  except  the  women,  who  were  carried  away  as 
captives.  When  the  forty  soldiers  who  had  been  absent 
returned  to  the  scene  of  the  massacre,  they  buried  the 
victims  and  abandoned  the  place.1 


II 

Although  Cabot’s  account  of  his  discoveries  did  not 
persuade  the  king  to  furnish  means  for  extending  them, 
it  was  nevertheless  influential  in  moving  Don  Pedro  de 
Mendoza  to  undertake  the  colonisation  of  this  new  coun- 
try. Mendoza  was  a nobleman  of  the  emperor’s  house- 
hold, who  had  won  wealth  and  distinction  as  a soldier  in 
the  Italian  wars.  The  supposed  proximity  of  the  valley 
of  La  Plata  to  the  riches  of  Peru  helped  to  convince  the 
Council  of  the  Indies  that  it  was  desirable  to  plant  new 
colonies  in  this  region  as  well  as  to  maintain  the  one 
already  established.  But  the  necessary  funds  were  want- 
ing, and  Mendoza  offered  to  meet  the  expenses  of  an  ex- 
pedition, provided  the  king  would  confer  upon  him  the 
title  of  adclantado,  and  make  him  governor  of  the  region 
he  was  to  occupy.  The  privileges  which  he  demanded 
were  granted  to  him  and  to  the  successor  whom  he  might 
designate.  On  his  part,  Mendoza  promised  to  take  with 
him  one  thousand  men,  a certain  number  of  ecclesi- 
astics, who  should  labour  for  the  conversion  of  the  In- 
dians ; and  also  one  hundred  horses  and  one  hundred 

1 Pedro  de  Angelis,  Coleccion  de  obras  y docunientos,  i.  25-28  ; Funcs, 
Ensayo  historico,  1.  0-14. 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  191 

mares.1  The  contract  between  Charles  V and  Mendoza 
provided,  moreover,  “ that  the  ransom  of  any  foreign 
sovereign  who  might  be  captured,  though  by  law  all  be- 
longing to  the  emperor,  should  be  divided  among  the  con- 
querors, reserving  to  the  crown  only  the  royal  fifth.”  2 
The  grant  to  Mendoza  3 was  not  greatly  unlike  the 
charters  of  commercial  corporations  in  later  times. 
The  holder  sought  to  induce  others  to  take  stock  in  the 
enterprise,  and  pointed  to  the  as  yet  unaccumulated 
funds  as  the  source  of  salaries  and  dividends.4 5  At  the 
outset  he  assigned  to  himself  an  annual  salary  of  two 
thousand  ducats,  and  to  others  compensation  in  keeping 
with  the  positions  occupied.  Don  Juan  de  Osorio  was 
general  in-chief  ; Diego  de  Mendoza,  brother  of  the  adel- 
antado,  was  admiral  of  the  fleet ; Juan  de  Ayolas  was 
chief  constable  ; and  George  Mendoza  and  Ilrich  Schmidel 
were  commanders  of  infantry.  The  prestige  of  this  ex- 
pedition and  the  expectations  which  it  awakened,  induced 
more  persons  to  apply  for  enlistment  than  Mendoza  was 
able  to  accept.  When  the  fleet  finally  set  sail  from  the 
port  of  San  Lucar,  on  the  1st  of  September  1534,  it 
carried  not  merely  the  stipulated  one  thousand,  but  two 
thousand  five  hundred  persons,  of  whom  one  hundred  and 
fifty  were  Germans,  and  the  rest  Spaniards.6 


1 Arcos,  La  Plata,  89  ; Pelliza,  Historia  A rgentina,  i.  58. 

2 Washburn,  History  of  Paraguay,  i.  15. 

3 Doc.  in&d.,  xxii.  350-60. 

4 Medina,  Diego  Garcia , cap.  v.,  vi. 

5 Ulrich  Schmidel’s  account  of  this  expedition  is  accessible  in  several 
languages.  It  was  written  in  German,  and  the  first  edition,  in  two  parts, 
was  published  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main  in  1567.  A translation  in 

Latin  appeared  in  Nuremberg  in  1599.  A Spanish  translation  under 
the  title  Viaje  at  Rio  de  la  Plata,  was  issued  at  Buenos  Aires  in  1903,  by 
the  Junta  de  Historia  y Numismatica  Americana.  The  translation  is 
preceded  by  Bartolome  Mitre’s  Biographical  and  Bibliographical  Notes, 
and  by  an  elaborate  introduction  written  by  Samuel  A.  Lafone  Quevado. 
The  Hakluyt  Society’s  edition  in  English  is  of  the  year  1891  ; and  a 
recent  German  edition  was  published  at  Tubingen  in  1889.  Of  some  of 
the  other  editions  an  account  is  given  by  Juan  Maria  Gutierrez  in 
Revista  del  Rio  de  la  Plata,  vi.  3-72. 


i92  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

The  jealousy  which  arose  among  the  members  of  this 
expedition  during  the  voyage  had  a lamentable  outcome 
in  the  assassination  of  Osorio.  After  this  event,  the  fleet 
went  on  to  its  destination,  but,  through  the  death  of 
Osorio,  the  colony  had  lost  its  most  important  guarantee 
of  success.  A landing  was  effected  at  the  site  of  the 
present  capital  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  in  the  be- 
ginning of  1635  a town  was  founded  under  the  name  of 
Santa  Maria  de  Buenos  Aires.  A governor  and  judges 
were  appointed  by  the  leader,  and  a municipal  organisa- 
tion was  created,  but  the  expected  prosperity  was  not 
attained.  The  stock  of  provisions  was  scanty,  and  the 
supply  provided  by  the  Indians  was  inadequate  and 
uncertain.  The  hostility  which  appeared  between  the 
Indians  and  the  Spaniards  cut  off  this  supply  entirely. 
Insufficient  food  and  unaccustomed  exposure  prepared  the 
way  for  famine  and  pestilence,  which  rapidly  diminished 
the  ranks  of  the  settlers.  Of  the  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred colonists  who  came  with  Mendoza,  there  were  only 
six  or  seven  hundred  survivors  three  years  after  their 
landing.1 

1 The  fourth  canto  of  La  Argentina  deals  with  this  phase  of  the 
colony’s  experience  : 

" La  gentc  ya  comienza  & enflaqueccrsc 
Las  raciones  se  acortan  cada  dia, 

No  puede  el  padre  el  hijo  socorrerse, 

Que  cada  cual  su  muerte  mas  temia. 


“ Un  hecho  horrendo,  digo  lastimoso, 
Aqui  sucede  : estaban  dos  hermanos  ; 
De  liambre  el  uno  muere,  y el  rabioso 
Que  vivo  estd,  le  saca  los  livianos 

Y bofes  y asadura,  y muy  gozoso 
Los  cuece  en  una  olla  por  su  manos, 

Y cdmelos  ; y cuerpo  se  comiera, 

Si  la  muerte  del  muerte  se  encubriera. 

" Comicnzan  a morir  todos  rabiando, 
Los  rostros  y los  ojos  consumidcs  ; 

A los  ninos  que  nnieren  sollozando 
Las  madres  les  respondencon  gemidos. 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  193 


III 

At  this  time  the  colonists  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  de 
la  Plata  were  distributed  in  three  divisions  : those  who 
were  at  Buenos  Aires  ; those  at  San  Espiritu  ; and  those 
who  had  gone  northward  with  Ayolas  in  search  of  a way 
across  the  continent  to  Peru.  San  Espiritu,  which  had 
been  devastated  and  abandoned,  had  been  repeopled 
from  Buenos  Aires  under  the  orders  of  Mendoza.  In 
January,  1538,  it  was  determined  to  gather  together 
the  remnants  of  the  several  settlements,  and  form  a new 
colony.  These  earliest  settlements  were,  therefore, 
deserted,  and  Asuncion,  in  Paraguay,  was  established. 
Isolated  in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  neglected 
by  the  mother  country,  the  colonists  at  Asuncion  under- 
took the  management  of  their  own  affairs.  Ayolas,  who 
had  been  made  the  successor  of  Mendoza  on  the  latter’s 
return  to  Spain,  had  perished  in  the  wilderness.  In 
order,  therefore,  to  provide  a leader,  or  head,  for  the 
colony,  recourse  was  had  to  an  election  by  the  members. 
Authority  for  this  action  was  contained  in  the  decree 
of  Charles  V,  dated  at  Valladolid,  September  12,  1537. 
With  Ayolas’s  commission,  there  had  been  sent  from 
Spain  letters-patent  based  on  this  decree,  which  provided 
for  the  election  of  a successor  to  Ayolas  in  case  of  his 
continued  absence.  An  addition  of  two  hundred  recruits 
was  made  to  the  colony ; they  were  under  the  joint  control 
of  the  veedor,  Alonso  de  Cabrera,  and  Ruiz  de  Galan. 


EI  pueblo  sin  ventura  lamentando, 

A Dios  envia  suspiros  doloridos  : 

Gritan  viejos  y mozos,  damas  bellas, 

Perturban  con  clamores  las  estrellas.” 

La  Argentina  is  printed  in  the  second  volume  of  Pedro  de  Angelis’ 
Coleccion  de  Obras  y Documentos.  A study  of  the  author,  Martin  del 
Barco  Centenera,  and  his  work,  by  Juan  Maria  Gutierrez,  may  be  found 
in  Revista  del  Rio  de  la  Plata,  vi.  287-334,  358-409,  648-689, ; vii.  11 1- 
137,  337-36i  ; xii.  610-639. 

VOL.  I.  N 


i94  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

On  discovering  the  state  of  things  at  Buenos  Aires,  they 
determined  to  pass  on  to  Asuncion,  where  they  found,  on 
their  arrival,  that  the  colonists  had  taken  advantage  of 
their  privilege,  and  elected  Martinez  de  Irala  to  be  their 
governor.  They  had  organised  a municipal  administra- 
tion, assigned  lots  to  the  settlers,  constructed  a church 
and  other  buildings,  and  placed  a Franciscan  monk  in 
charge  of  the  ecclesiastical  affairs. 

The  rule  of  Irala  is  significant  on  account  of  the 
relations  which  he  established  between  the  Spaniards  and 
the  Indians,  which  were  of  such  a nature  as  in  a large 
measure  to  determine  the  character  of  the  population  of 
Paraguay.  In  dealing  with  the  Indians  he  decreed 
“ certain  laws  which  continued  to  exist  long  after  him, 
in  spite  of  the  contrary  regulations  of  the  mother  country.” 
Under  these  laws,  “ any  Spaniard  might  undertake  the 
conquest  of  a tribe  and  become  its  master,  holding  it 
under  the  title  of  encomienda.”  1 In  case  the  individual 
“conqueror’s”  power  was  inadequate  to  the  under- 
taking, the  government  might  lend  its  aid ; and  the 
Indians  thus  brought  into  subjection  were  distributed 
among  the  soldiers  as  mitayos  and  yanaconas.2 


1 Arcos,  La  Plata,  105. 

2 The  yanaconas  were  Indians  who,  or  whose  fathers,  had  left  the 
repartimiento,  or  the  province,  where  they  were  bom,  and  had  been 
taken  into  the  service  of  a Spaniard,  and  had  become  permanently 
attached  to  the  land  or  the  service  of  a master.  They  might  be  em- 
ployed on  the  ch&caras  (small  plantations)  ; in  the  houses  of  the 
Spaniards  ; in  the  mines,  as  in  Potosi  or  Porco  ; or  in  the  mountains, 
gathering  the  coca  leaves.  See  Juan  Matienzo,  Gobierno  del  Peru, 
Buenos  Aires,  1910,  chap.  viii.  The  licenciado,  Juan  Matienzo,  went 
to  America  in  1560,  under  appointment  as  judge  of  the  audiencia  of 
Charcas,  and  while  acting  in  this  capacity,  prior  to  1573,  he  wrote 
the  Gobierno  del  Peru.  The  manuscript,  the  two  parts  here  pub- 
lished, found  its  way  to  the  British  Museum,  and  remained  unpublished 
until  1910,  when  it  was  issued  under  the  auspices  of  the  Faculty  of  Phi- 
losophy and  Letters  of  Buenos  Aires,  and  was  edited  by  a descendant  of 
the  author,  Dr.  Jos6  Nicolas  Matienzo,  whose  work,  El  Gobierno  Repre- 
sentative Federal  en  la  Republica  Argentina,  was  published  in  1910.  The 
writings  of  Juan  Martienzo  are  frequently  cited  by  Solorzano  in  his 
Politica  Indiana. 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  195 

In  organising  the  Indians  under  the  control  of  the 
Spaniards  in  America,  the  king  and  the  Council  of  the 
Indies  were  often  led  by  their  ideal  to  run  counter  to  the 
interests  of  the  actual  settlers.  They  proposed  that  the 
first  settler,  the  “ conqueror,”  should  pass  his  encomienda 
on  by  inheritance  to  his  heir,  but  that,  at  the  end  of  the 
second  life,  the  Indians  should  be  free  ; that  they  should 
then  work  on  their  own  account,  but  should  be  subject 
to  a moderate  tribute,  or  poll-tax.  The  Indians  of  this 
region,  who  had  hitherto  been  nomadic,  were  to  be 
compelled  to  adopt  a settled  life,  to  construct  houses  for 
themselves,  and  to  submit  to  the  municipal  organisation 
of  a village  or  a town.  This  plan  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  a corregidor  to  administer  justice,  while 
the  general  affairs  of  the  town  were  to  be  controlled  by 
an  ayuntamiento  composed  of  two  alcades  and  regidores. 
These  settlements,  although  composed  exclusively  of 
Indians,  were  ordered  in  the  form  of  Spanish  munici- 
palities.1 This  plan  encountered  two  objections.  In 
the  first  place,  to  remove  the  Indians  from  the  control 
of  the  encomendero  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  life 
would  involve  the  termination  of  whatever  enterprises 
in  agriculture,  mining,  or  other  industry  had  been  carried 
on  by  the  labour  of  the  Indians,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  the  Indians  would  not  work  voluntarily,  and  there 
were  no  other  labourers  available.  In  the  second  place, 
the  Indians  were  not  far  enough  advanced  in  civilisation 
to  maintain  and  govern  themselves  in  towns,  without 
the  effective  direction  and  supervision  of  civilised  persons. 
They  had  previously  gained  their  living  while  having  a 
free  range  of  the  country  ; they  had  had  no  experience 
of  living  under  the  conditions  proposed. 

The  Guarani  Indians  were  generally  friendly,  and 
relations  were  formed  between  them  and  the  Spaniards 
which  appeared  to  Guevara  as  scandalous.  It  is  some- 

1 Azara,  Description  6 Historia  del  Paraguay  y del  Rio  de  la  Plata 

i-  253. 


196  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

times  said  that  the  colonists  established  polygamy, 
and  that  an  agreement,  or  treaty,  was  made  with  the 
Indians,  in  accordance  with  which  they  should  grant  to 
the  governor  seven  wives,  and  to  each  of  the  soldiers 
two.  Irala  espoused  the  seven  daughters  of  the  principal 
chief,  and  in  his  will  “ he  declared  that  he  had  taken 
the  seven  daughters  of  the  cacique  as  wives,  and  re- 
quested that  the  children  whom  he  had  had  by  them 
should  be  considered  as  Spaniards.” 1 Through  this 
extensive  mingling  of  the  blood  of  the  two  races,  and  the 
predominance  of  the  Indian  stock,  the  population  of 
Paraguay  became  characterised  by  Indian  rather  than 
by  Spanish  traits. 


IV 

The  first  period  of  Irala’s  government  ended  in 
1542,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Alvar  Nunez  Cabeza  de 
Vaca,  wrho  arrived  in  Asuncion  accompanied  by  about 
four  hundred  men,  with  whom  he  proposed  to  make  new 
conquests  in  the  region  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  His 
instructions  enjoined,  among  other  things,  that  he 
should  use  great  care  to  propagate  the  Christian  religion  ; 
that  he  should  take  w’ith  him  no  advocates  or  solicitors  ; 
that  the  Spaniards  and  Indians  should  be  permitted 
to  trade  freely  with  one  another,  without  any  inter- 
ference on  the  part  of  the  authorities ; and  that  the 
captains  should  act  as  judges  in  all  cases,  but  that  there 
might  be  an  appeal  to  the  adelantado,  and  in  the  last 
resort  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies.  On  his  arrival  at 
Asuncion,  Cabeza  de  Vaca  was  recognised  by  the  colonists 
as  the  head  of  all  the  Spanish  establishments  in  this 

1 Arcos,  100.  Guevara’s  statement  of  the  case  is  as  follows : 
“ Para  todo  ayudaron  los  Guaranis  amigos,  tan  escrupulosos  en  la 
observancia  de  las  capitulaciones,  que  excedian  los  t6rminos  de  la 
obligation,  y tan  obsequiosos  en  el  agasajo  de  los  espanoles,  que  ofrecian 
sus  hijas  para  el  servicio,  y con  ellas  pasaron  la  vida  en  concubinatos 
escandalosos  muchos  afios  ” (Angelis,  Coleccidn  de  Obras  y Documentos, 
ii.  96). 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  197 

part  of  America,  while  Irala,  as  maestre  de  campo,  held 
the  second  place.  Under  his  administration,  the  neigh- 
bouring Indians  were  subdued,  and  the  material  prosperity 
of  the  colony  was  increased ; but  Asuncion  became 
divided  into  two  factions.  Those  who  had  come  to 
America  with  Mendoza,  and  who,  under  Irala,  had  founded 
Asuncion,  stood  in  opposition  to  those  who  had  arrived 
later  under  Cabeza  de  Vaca.  The  severity  of  Cabeza  de 
Vaca’s  administration  tended  to  confirm  his  opponents 
in  their  opposition,  and  to  weaken  the  allegiance  of  his 
followers.  His  attempts  to  abolish  polygamy  in  the 
colony,  and  to  prevent  the  ill-treatment  of  the  Indians 
by  those  holding  encomiendas,  and  other  real  or  fancied 
grievances,  led  to  his  accusation  and  transportation  to 
Spain  for  trial.  He  arrived  in  Seville  in  1544,  and, 
after  years  of  waiting  for  a decision,  a decree  of  exile  to 
Africa  was  pronounced  against  him.  Three  years  later, 
however,  the  decree  was  reversed,  and  the  exile  was 
recalled.  Although  his  privileges  were  restored  to  him,  he 
died  before  reaping  any  further  advantage  from  them. 

The  prosperity  of  Paraguay  during  the  first  decade 
after  the  establishment  of  Asuncion  suggested  the  de- 
sirability of  giving  it  individuality  in  the  ecclesiastical 
organisation.  In  response  to  a request  from  the  Spanish 
court,  the  pope  created  the  bishopric  of  Paraguay,  and 
appointed  Juan  de  Barrios  of  Toledo  bishop.  By 
reason  of  old  age  and  ill-health,  Bishop  Barrios  never 
assumed  the  duties  of  his  charge  in  America.  In  1555, 
Pedro  de  la  Torre  was  appointed  the  second  bishop  of 
the  new  diocese,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  take  up 
his  residence  in  Paraguay.  His  jurisdiction  extended  over 
the  whole  valley  of  La  Plata  ; and  the  establishment  of  a 
centre  of  ecclesiastical  authority  here  helped  to  make 
Paraguay  independent  of  the  viceroy  of  Peru  and  the 
audiencia  of  Charcas.  After  the  division  of  this  region 
into  two  provinces,  in  1617,  another  bishopric  was  created, 
covering  the  province  of  Buenos  Aires,  thus  materially 


198  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

limiting  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  of 
Paraguay. 

After  the  departure  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  Irala  was 
elected  governor  of  the  colony  for  the  second  time,  and 
later  was  confirmed  by  the  crown  in  the  exercise  of  his 
functions,  under  the  title  of  adelantado.  He  died  in 
1557,  having  nominated  Gonzalo  Mendoza  as  his  suc- 
cessor. On  the  death  of  Mendoza,  the  next  year,  the 
colony  had  recourse  once  more  to  a popular  vote,  and 
elected  Vergara  governor.  But  not  satisfied  with  the 
title  conveyed  by  the  election,  Vergara  sought,  at  the 
hands  of  the  viceroy,  the  royal  confirmation  of  the 
powers  wifich  he  exercised  by  the  will  of  the  people. 
With  this  design,  he  went  to  Lima,  but  the  fact  of  a 
popular  election  had  little  weight  with  the  viceroy,  who 
passed  over  the  claims  of  Vergara  and  nominated  one  of 
his  officers,  Juan  Ortiz  de  Zarate,  adelantado  of  Paraguay. 
Wishing  the  direct  approval  of  the  crown,  Zarate  went 
to  Spain,  appointing  Caceres  as  deputy  at  Asuncion  to 
act  in  his  absence.  This  violation  of  the  clearly  ex- 
pressed wish  of  the  colonists  revived  the  partisan  con- 
flicts wrhich  had  filled  the  settlement  with  confusion  in 
the  time  of  Irala  and  Cabeza  de  Vaca.  Bishop  Torre 
led  the  friends  of  Vergara,  and  organised  a conspiracy 
which  resulted  in  embarking  Caceres  for  Spain.  Con- 
fusion and  anarchy  followed,  which  were  not  allayed 
even  by  the  arrival  of  Zarate  with  full  powers  derived 
directly  from  the  crowm.  The  new  governor  had  engaged 
to  introduce  into  the  colony  two  hundred  families,  three 
hundred  soldiers,  four  thousand  cows,  four  thousand 
sheep,  three  hundred  goats,  and  three  hundred  mares- 
In  recognition  of  this  obligation  he  had  been  made 
governor  of  the  lands  discovered  by  Cabot,  with  the 
right  to  appoint  his  successor.  Before  his  death  in 
1575,  in  accordance  with  this  last  provision,  he  designated 
as  his  successor  the  person  who  should  marry  a daughter 
whom  he  had  left  at  Chuquisaca.  This  proved  to  be 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  199 

Juan  Torres  de  Vera  y Aragon.  Not  wishing  to  take  up 
the  reins  of  government  till  he  should  be  able  to  fulfil 
the  obligations  under  which  Zarate  had  been  appointed, 
Vera  delegated  his  authority  to  Juan  de  Garay,  under 
the  title  of  lieutenant-governor  and  captain-general  of  Rio 
de  la  Plata.  In  1576,  Garay  entered  upon  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duties,  and  continued  to  control  the  affairs  of 
the  settlements  until  he  was  killed  by  the  Indians  in 
1584.  Under  him  many  colonies  were  established  in 
different  parts  of  the  territory  which  later  belonged  to 
the  Argentine  Republic.  Those  which  were  founded  in 
the  north-western  part  of  this  region  derived  their 
authority  from  the  viceroy  of  Peru.  Of  these  early 
foundations  in  the  north,  Tucuman  and  Santiago  remain, 
while  many  of  them  have  disappeared.  But  the  most 
important  of  the  settlements  made  by  migration  from 
the  west  was  Cordova,  founded  in  1573,  by  Gei'onimo 
Luis  Cabrera.  Cabrera’s  grant  was  received  from  the 
viceroy,  Francisco  de  Toledo,  and  extended  eastward  to 
the  river  Parana,  and  included  both  banks.  The  same 
day  on  which  Cabrera  founded  Cordova,  with  the 
authority  of  the  viceroy,  Juan  de  Garay,  under  the 
authority  of  the  governor  of  Asuncion,  established  the 
city  of  Santa  Fe,  on  territory  included  in  Cabrera’s  grant. 
This  conflict  of  claims  was,  however,  set  aside  by  Zarate’s 
confirmation  of  Garay’s  pretensions,  and  the  withdrawal 
of  Cabrera  to  Cordova. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  history  of  this  region 
during  the  later  decades  of  the  century  was  the  refounding 
of  Buenos  Aires,  in  1580,  by  Juan  de  Garay.  Besides  the 
hostility  of  the  Indians,  Garay  had  to  contend  with  a re- 
bellion at  Santa  Fe.  The  leaders  of  this  movement 
sought  to  overcome  any  reluctance  which  the  citizens 
might  have  to  participating  in  the  revolt  by  publishing 
frequently  the  statement  that  a rebellion  ceased  to  be  a 
crime  as  soon  as  it  became  successful.  In  order  to  be 
secure  on  the  side  of  Tucuman,  they  sought  to  take 


200  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


advantage  of  Governor  Abreu’s  known  hostility  to  Garay. 
Although  Abreu  was  not  disposed  to  assume  the  position 
of  an  open  ally,  the  emissaries  sent  to  confer  with  him  at 
Cordova  were  convinced  that  that  province  would  offer 
no  embarrassment  in  their  enterprise.  The  project  of 
the  insurgents  was,  however,  ruined  by  the  lack  of  har- 
mony among  the  leaders.  As  the  pious  Funes  remarks : 
“It  is  not  easy  to  preserve  harmony  that  is  founded  on 
crime.”  1 

The  Indians  who  had  shown  themselves  hostile  to 
Garay  were  finally  defeated,  and  submitted  to  the 
Spaniards ; yet  their  submission  was  not  so  complete  as 
to  prevent  them  from  taking  any  safe  advantage  that 
might  be  offered.  Such  an  advantage  presented  itself 
when  Garay  was  passing  up  the  Parana.  Proceeding  up 
the  river  in  boats,  he  camped  at  night  on  the  land  near 
the  bank  of  the  stream,  without  posting  sentinels  or 
taking  any  adequate  provisions  for  liis  safety.  A cacique, 
with  one  hundred  and  thirty  followers,  wiio  had  observed 
this  lack  of  precaution,  fell  upon  the  Spaniards  while  they 
slept,  and  killed  Garay  and  forty  of  his  soldiers.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  province  bewailed  the  loss  of  Garay  as 
irreparable,  and  saw  among  their  number  no  one  who 
might  properly  fill  his  place.  In  fact,  the  history  of  the 
province  presents  no  one,  except  Irala,  who  may  be  re- 
garded as  his  rival  in  distinction,  or  in  ability  as  a colonial 
leader  and  organiser. 

During  the  period  between  the  death  of  Garay  and 
the  arrival  of  Vera,  there  was  manifest  among  the  settle- 
ments a strong  particularistic  spirit.  In  want  of  a re- 
cognised central  authority,  the  disrupting  forces  of  anar- 
chism, strengthened  by  the  isolation  of  the  several 

1 Ensayo,  i.  180.  In  1537  five  mares  and  seven  stallions  were 
abandoned  by  the  first  settlers  at  Buenos  Aires.  When  the  town 
was  re-established  in  1580,  the  descendants  of  these  animals  were 
found  to  exist  in  great  numbers.  The  soldiers  of  Garay  captured 
some  of  them,  and  were  thus  the  first  to  break  them  and  bring  them 
into  use. 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  201 


colonies,  were  conspicuously  revealed.  Vera,  however, 
succeeded  in  restoring  order  ; but  four  years  after  his 
arrival,  he  abandoned  the  government  and  went  to  Spain. 
After  Torres  de  Vera,  it  became  customary  for  the  governor 
to  share  his  authority  with  a deputy. 

“ The  jurisdiction  of  the  deputies  of  the  governor  did 
not  extend  beyond  the  districts  of  the  city  for  which  they 
were  severally  appointed,  including  the  settled  surround- 
ing country  ; and  each  city  within  the  territory  of  the 
governor  had  one  of  these  deputies.  The  governors  as 
well  as  their  deputies  exercised  the  functions  of  justicia 
mayor,  and  the  latter  were  the  immediate  military  chiefs 
of  their  districts.”  1 

These  officers  served  for  periods  of  different  lengths, 
being  appointed  for  no  predetermined  terms.  Certain 
matters  of  local  administration  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
cabildos,  or  municipal  councils.  These  bodies  performed 
the  ordinary  functions  of  municipal  corporations,  their 
alcaldes  administering  justice  in  the  first  instance.  The 
revenues  were,  however,  managed  by  the  royal  officials, 
who  also  acted  as  judges  in  cases  relating  to  these  matters. 
The  duties  of  police  in  the  country  were  performed 
by  alcaldes  de  hermandad,  while  these  duties  in  the  cities 
were  performed  by  other  appropriate  subordinates. 

After  the  final  retirement  of  Vera  (1587  to  1591),  re- 
course was  had  once  more  to  an  election,  which  resulted 
in  the  choice  of  Hernando  Arias  de  Saavedra,  a native  of 
Asuncion,  for  governor.  This  time  the  wish  of  the  in- 
habitants was  regarded,  and  Saavedra’s  election  was 
confirmed  by  the  crown.  He  held  the  headship  of  the 
province  from  1591  to  1593,  when  the  viceroy  of  Peru 
appointed  Fernando  de  Zarate  to  be  his  successor.  In 
the  brief  period  of  Zarate’s  rule,  England  sent  three  ships 
with  the  purpose  of  taking  possession  of  the  city  of  Buenos 

1 Zinny,  Historiadelos  Gobernadores  de  las  Provincias  Argentinas,  i.  xv. 


202  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


Aires.  This  early  undertaking  of  the  English  is  note- 
worthy, in  view  of  their  later  attempts  to  bring  this  rich 
region  under  their  authority.  Zarate  died  in  1595,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Juan  Ramirez  de  Velasco  (1595  to 
1:59 7).  Velasco  had  been  viceroy  of  Mexico  and  Peru, 
President  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  governor  of  Tucu- 
man,  and  admiral  of  the  South  Sea.  After  a brief  rule  of 
two  years,  he  returned,  in  1597,  to  Tucuman,  and  died 
there  in  1606.  Saavedra  came  to  power  a second  time  in 
1597,  and  yielded  the  governorship  in  1599  to  Rodriguez 
de  Valdes,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  king. 

Under  Governor  Valdes,  the  ecclesiastical  and  political 
authorities  were  in  conflict.  The  commands  of  the 
governor,  limiting  the  action  of  the  bishop,  Thomas  Vas- 
quez  de  Liano,  were  overruled  by  the  king,  who  approved 
and  confirmed  the  decision  of  the  audiencia  of  Charcas. 

V 

Under  this  governor  also,  in  1601,  appeared  the  first 
physician  and  the  first  schoolmaster  at  Buenos  Aires. 
Don  Manuel  Alvarez  presented  to  the  municipal  council 
his  credentials,  asking  that  his  salary  for  rendering 
medical  aid  to  the  inhabitants  might  be  fixed,  the  patients 
themselves  being  required  to  pay  for  the  medicines  and 
all  other  necessary  materials.  At  this  time  also  Fran- 
cisco Victoria  asked  the  municipal  council  to  assign  him 
a house  where  he  might  establish  a school.  Hitherto, 
for  a period  of  twenty  years  after  its  foundation,  the 
town  of  Buenos  Aires  had  been  without  the  means  of 
public  instruction.  The  plan  now  proposed  by  Victoria 
involved  a monthly  tuition  of  from  one  to  two  dollars 
for  each  child  instructed. 

The  annals  of  the  early  settlements  of  Paraguay  and 
the  region  of  La  Plata  appear  to  be  barren  when  com- 
pared with  those  of  New  Granada  and  Peru.  Many 
circumstances  combined  to  produce  this  result.  The 
crown  was  not  disposed  to  encourage  the  foundation 
and  the  development  of  colonies  in  this  part  of  America, 
after  it  had  become  evident  that  they  could  not  make 


SETTLERS  OF  RIO  DE  LA  PLATA  203 

important  contributions  to  the  royal  treasury.  Persons 
proposing  to  go  to  the  New  World  did  not  look  with 
favour  on  a region  that  possessed  no  accumulations  or 
mines  of  the  precious  metals.  They  were  attracted 
rather  to  the  countries  which  figured  in  the  stories  of 
abundant  wealth  that  were  carried  across  the  Atlantic, 
and  told  in  every  part  of  Spain.  They  had  no  mind  to 
spend  the  amount  of  money  necessary  for  the  voyage 
and  endure  its  wearisome  inconveniences  simply  for  the 
sake  of  devoting  themselves  to  agriculture  or  the  mono- 
tonous occupations  of  pastoral  life.  Therefore,  after 
the  first  explorations  had  made  known  the  character  of 
the  country,  and  shown  that  there  were  no  rich  kingdoms 
to  be  plundered  and  no  princes  to  be  captured  and 
ransomed,  the  Argentine  plains  and  the  lands  about  the 
great  rivers  of  the  south  seemed  to  present  no  field  for 
the  adventurous  emigrant.  The  determination  of  the 
crown  to  hold  Rio  de  la  Plata  as  a closed  port,  admitting 
only  two  small  vessels  yearly,  excluded  all  but  a very 
limited  immigration,  and  thus  threw  the  colony  upon  its 
own  resources  in  an  uncultivated  wilderness,  and  made  its 
growth  largely  dependent  upon  its  natural  increase. 
This  natural  increment  consisted,  moreover,  in  large 
part  of  mestizos,  whose  impulses  towards  civilisation 
were  hardly  stronger  than  their  impulses  to  perpetuate 
the  spirit  and  circumstances  of  their  barbarous  ancestors. 
These  and  other  facts  relating  to  the  early  history  of 
Paraguay  sufficiently  account  for  a lack  of  movement 
and  development  in  the  colony,  and  for  its  failure  to 
become  an  important  factor  in  the  planting  and  spread  of 
European  civilisation  in  South  America. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR 

I.  Early  phases  of  the  system  of  encomiendas.  II.  The  New  Laws. 
III.  Gonzalo  Pizarro’s  rebellion  and  civil  war.  IV.  Gasca’s 
mission. 

I 

Over  all  the  communities,  whose  origin  has  been  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  pages,  Spain  established  the 
authority  of  a viceroy  ; and  the  first  officer  of  this  rank 
for  South  America  was  despatched  to  introduce  the 
reform  proposed  through  the  New  Laws.  These  laws 
aimed  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  Indians,  whose 
fate  under  the  servitude  of  the  repartimientos  had  called 
forth  protests  from  many  persons,  but  especially  from 
Bartolome  de  las  Casas.  This  form  of  subjection  was 
introduced  by  the  discoverers  of  America ; for  when 
Columbus  found  that  the  tribute  which  he  had  imposed 
upon  the  natives  in  the  provinces  of  Vega  and  Cibao,  in 
Espanola,  could  not  be  collected  regularly,  he  ordered 
that  in  certain  places  manual  labour  should  be  accepted 
instead  of  tribute.  Under  this  order  the  Indians  were 
required  to  work  on  the  lands  of  the  Spaniards  ; and 
this  was  the  beginning  of  the  system  of  encomiendas  and 
repartimientos  in  America.1 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  Court  of  Spain  that  the 
Indians  should  be  free  ; but  Nicolas  de  Ovando,  who 
was  governor  of  Espanola  from  1502  until  1509,  affirmed 
that  if  the  Indians  were  free,  they  would  keep  aloof  from 

1 The  New  Laws  of  the  Indies  (London,  1893),  Stevens’  Intro- 
duction, xxxiv. ; Mendiburu,  ii.  293  ; Solorzano,  Politica  Indiana, 
lib.  iii.  cap.  i.,  par.  3-10;  Irving,  Life  and  Voyages  of  Columbus,  314. 

204 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  205 

the  Spaniards,  and  that  under  these  conditions  it  would 
be  impossible  to  give  them  instruction  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Faith.  The  king  was  evidently  moved  by  the 
arguments  of  the  governor,  for  in  1503  he  ordered  him 
to  make  the  Indians  trade  with  the  Spaniards  and  work 
for  them  ; and  the  Spaniards  were  to  decide  when  it  was 
necessary  to  require  this  labour.  They  were  at  the  same 
time  required  to  teach  the  Indians  the  Christian  doctrines, 
and  treat  them  as  free  persons  and  not  as  serfs.  While 
all  should  be  treated  well,  the  Christians  among  them 
should  be  treated  with  greater  favour  than  the  rest. 
Ovando  distributed  the  Indians  among  his  countrymen, 
and  it  was  expected  that  the  Indians  would  be  paid  ; 
but,  in  fact,  their  compensation,  whenever  they  received 
any,  was  small.  Their  labour  was  severe,  their  food 
inadequate,  and  their  religious  instruction  almost  entirely 
neglected.  The  result  was  a regime  of  misery  and 
starvation,  with  a rapid  depopulation  of  the  districts 
occupied  by  the  Spaniards. 

The  three  Dominican  friars,  Pedro  de  Cordova, 
Antonio  de  Montesinos,  and  Bernardo  de  San  Domingo, 
who  arrived  in  Santo  Domingo  in  1510,  made  a vigorous 
protest  against  the  treatment  which  the  Indians  received, 
and  became  their  persistent  defenders.  Fray  Antonio 
preached  against  the  conduct  of  the  Spaniards  and  the 
institution  of  repartimientos,  and  naturally  provoked  the 
indignant  resentment  of  all  persons  who  were  deriving 
profit  from  the  labour  of  the  Indians.1  The  protests 
reached  even  the  ears  of  the  king,  and  were  heard  in 
the  meetings  of  the  junta  of  Burgos.  But  that  body 
consisting  of  the  advisers  of  the  king  on  American  affairs 
and  a number  of  theologians  and  lawyers,  concluded, 
“ that  in  view  of  the  Apostolic  Grace  and  Donation,  the 
Indians  ought  to  be  given  in  repartimientos,  and  that  it 
was  in  agreement  with  Divine  and  Human  Right.” 

1 Humbert,  Les  origines  vinizuiliennes,  206-8  ; Rojas,  A.,  Estudios 
histdricos,  43  ; Quintana,  Obras,  438-40. 


206  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


“ The  Laws  of  Burgos,”  founded  on  the  conclusions  of 
this  junta,  were  proclaimed  at  Burgos,  December  12, 
1512. 

Under  the  system  of  encomiendas  it  was  provided 
that  the  encomendero,  or  holder  of  the  grant,  might 
receive  the  services  of  Indians  or  tribute  from  them. 
The  Indians  who  were  placed  under  the  obligation  to 
render  services  or  to  pay  tribute,  were  assigned  to  persons 
in  the  Indies,  and  these  persons  were  charged  with  the 
duty  of  providing  for  the  well-being  of  the  Indians 
commended  to  them.  They  were  also  expected  to 
inhabit  and  defend  the  provinces  in  which  they  exercised 
the  rights  of  encomenderos.  The  requirement  that 
the  Indians  should  be  instructed  in  the  “ faith  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church  ” was  from  the  first  treated  as  a 
mere  formality,  and  had  little  or  no  influence  in  deter- 
mining conduct. 

The  conclusions  reached  at  Burgos  furnish  the  most 
elaborate  early  statement  of  the  views  of  the  king  and 
his  advisers  respecting  this  system : Encomenderos 

should  supply  Indians  assigned  to  them  with  food ; 
should  build  houses  for  them  ; and  the  houses  which  the 
Indians  had  in  their  own  settlements  should  then  be 
destroyed,  thus  removing  from  the  owners  the  desire  to 
return  to  them.  The  Indians  should  be  taught  the 
Christian  doctrine ; an  encomendero  having  fifty  or 
more  Indians  should  be  obliged  to  teach  a lad  to  read  and 
write,  so  that  he  might  instruct  the  others ; and  when 
any  Indian  should  arrive  at  the  age  of  puberty,  he 
should  be  made  to  confess,  if  he  knew  how  to  do  so,  and, 
if  not,  he  should  be  assisted,  and  taught  the  creed  and 
prayers.  Encomenderos  should  be  obliged  to  have  the 
children  baptized  eight  days  after  birth.  The  sons  of 
the  caciques,  from  thirteen  years  old  and  under,  should 
be  given  to  the  Franciscan  friars,  and  should  be  kept  by 
them  for  four  years.  The  friars  should  have  them 
taught  the  Christian  faith  and  reading  and  writing,  and 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  207 

they  should  return  them  afterwards  to  the  persons  who 
had  given  them.  In  order  that  the  Latin  grammar 
might  be  taught  to  the  sons  of  the  caciques,  the  king 
ordered  the  Bachelor  Herman  Juarez  to  go  to  the  Indies, 
and  it  was  provided  that  his  salary  should  be  paid  from 
the  royal  revenues.  No  one  should  employ  the  Indians 
to  carry  burdens  ; and  the  Indians  who  had  to  be 
employed  in  digging  gold,  should  be  continued  in  this 
occupation  for  five  months  in  the  year,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  this  period  they  should  take  their  ease  for 
forty  days,  and  during  these  forty  days  no  one  might 
require  any  Indian,  who  was  not  a slave,  to  dig  gold. 
The  Indians  should  be  persuaded  to  marry,  but  made 
to  understand  that  they  could  have  no  more  than  one 
wife,  and  that  she  must  not  be  a kinswoman  within  the 
fourth  degree.  Pregnant  women  should  not  be  employed 
in  any  kind  of  labour  ; encomenderos  should  not  avail 
themselves  of  the  Indians  of  other  repartimientos  ; and 
they  should  be  obliged  to  give  an  account  of  all  the 
Indians  who  were  born  or  who  died  in  their  reparti- 
mientos. No  one  should  strike  with  a stick  or  whip, 
or  should  imprison,  an  Indian,  but  when  an  Indian  should 
deserve  punishment,  he  should  be  taken  before  one  of  the 
inspectors,  of  whom  there  should  be  two  in  each  town. 
These  inspectors,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  see  that 
these  and  other  ordinances  were  observed,  should  be 
nominated  by  the  admiral  and  by  the  royal  officials 
from  the  most  pious  and  honest  men  in  the  colony.  The 
inspectors,  two  at  a time  and  not  one  alone,  should  make 
two  visits  each  year  ; and  they  should  not  take  to  their 
homes  runaway  or  lost  Indians,  but  should  deposit 
them  until  they  should  return  them  to  their  owners.1 

These  provisions  framed  by  the  junta  assembled  at 
Burgos  are  an  indication  of  the  early  designs  and  am- 
bitions of  the  king  and  his  advisers  with  respect  to  the 
social  organisation  of  Spain’s  expanding  possessions. 

1 Herrera,  Historia  de  las  Indias  occidentales  (Madrid,  1730),  i.  256. 


208  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


But  the  actual  practice  of  the  later  decades  departed 
widely  from  these  injunctions.  In  granting  lands  to 
Spaniards,  action  was  had  under  the  assumption  that  the 
king  was  primarily  the  owner  of  all  the  land  in  Spanish 
America,  and  that  every  legitimate  claim  to  any  portion 
of  these  lands  must  rest  on  an  original  concession  by  the 
crown.1 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  wishes  of  the  crown 
as  to  the  spread  of  this  system,  it  became  clear  very 
early  that  the  great  advantage  of  it  for  the  conquerors 
or  colonists  made  inevitable  its  extension  from  the 
islands,  where  it  originated,  to  the  conquered  lands  of  the 
continent.  But  the  evils  attending  it  very  soon  aroused 
a party  demanding  its  abolition.  Las  Casas,  who  had  a 
repartimiento  in  Cuba,  became  the  leader  of  this  party. 
Having  become  convinced  of  the  injustice  of  the  system, 
and  of  the  cruelties  that  appeared  to  be  practically 
inseparable  from  it,  he  abandoned  his  property  and  sailed 
for  Spain  in  1515.  Before  the  king,  he  advocated  the 
cause  of  emancipation,  and  thus  began  his  activity  as 
the  champion  of  the  liberty  of  the  Indians,  to  which  he 
devoted  his  marvellous  energy  during  the  rest  of  his  life. 
The  first  years  of  his  agitation  appeared  to  have  no 
influence,  except  to  bring  upon  himself  storms  of  abuse 
from  persons  who  thought  their  interests  depended  on 
the  maintenance  of  some  form  of  slavery  or  serfdom. 
In  the  meantime,  in  the  islands,  in  Mexico,  and  in  Peru, 
the  system  of  repartimientos  became  accepted  by  the 
majority  of  the  European  inhabitants  as  a necessary  and 
normal  feature  of  the  new  society.2 

By  an  order  dated  July  26,  1523,  the  crown  undertook 
to  forbid  the  granting  of  repartimientos  in  Mexico,  and 
to  revoke  those  already  granted  ; but  the  political  and 

1 An  account  of  the  distribution  of  the  Indians  of  Espanola,  to- 
gether with  the  ordenanzas  of  Burgos  limiting  the  number  that  might 
be  held  by  one  person,  is  given  in  Documentos  intditos,  i.  50-241. 

2 “ Representacibn  hecha  al  Rey  por  el  clerigo  Bartolomb  de  las 
Casas,”  Doc.  inid.,  vii.  5-13,  14-15. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  209 

economic  interests  of  Cortes  and  his  followers  constituted 
an  obstruction  which  could  not  readily  be  removed.  In 
view  of  remonstrances  from  many  quarters,  and  on 
the  advice  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  the  order  of 
prohibition  was  withdrawn.  The  practice  was,  therefore, 
continued,  and  the  natives,  under  the  unaccustomed  toil 
to  which  they  were  driven,  continued  to  diminish  in 
numbers.  The  laws  provided  by  the  Crown  and  the 
Council  of  the  Indies  contained  abundant  provisions  ap- 
parently designed  to  promote  the  material  and  spiritual 
well-being  of  the  Indians,  but  under  the  conditions  of 
communication  then  existing  between  Spain  and  her 
American  possessions,  the  actual  practice  in  Mexico,  and 
elsewhere  in  Spanish  America,  was  determined  rather  by 
the  wishes  of  the  local  authorities  than  by  the  will  of 
the  King  of  Spain. 

The  system  of  encomiendas  and  repartimientos  was 
first  introduced  into  Peru  by  Pizarro,  in  connection  with 
the  founding  of  the  town  of  San  Miguel,  in  1532,  who 
“ divided  the  land  amongst  those  who  settled  in  the 
new  town,  for,  without  aid  of  the  natives,  they  could 
neither  have  maintained  nor  peopled  it.”  1 


1 Report  of  Francisco  de  Xeres,  Secretary  to  Francisco  Pizarro ; 
translation  by  Clements  R.  Markham,  in  Hakluyt  (London,  1872), 
vol.  xlvii.  24.  Xeres  gives  a hopeful  view  of  the  plan  : " If  the 
caciques  had  been  made  to  serve,  without  being  assigned  to  persons 
who  would  be  responsible,  the  natives  would  have  suffered  much  injury  ; 
for  when  the  Spaniards  know  the  Indians  who  are  assigned  to  them, 
they  treat  them  well,  and  take  care  of  them.  Influenced  by  these 
considerations,  and  with  the  approval  of  the  monk  and  of  officers, 
who  thought  that  such  a measure  would  be  for  the  service  of  God 
and  the  good  of  the  natives,  the  governor  assigned  the  caciques  and 
Indians  to  the  settlers  in  this  town,  that  they  might  assist  in  their 
maintenance,  and  that  the  Christians  might  teach  them  our  holy 
faith,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  his  Majesty  that  measures  should 
be  taken  which  were  best  for  the  service  of  God,  of  himself,  and  for 
the  good  of  the  country  and  of  the  natives.”  See  Historiadores  primi- 
tives de  Indias,  ii.  325.  The  Conquista  del  Peru,  by  Francisco  de  Jerez, 
from  which  this  translation  is  made,  is  found  in  the  second  volume 
of  this  collection  of  Historiadores  primitivos,  which  is  vol.  xxvi.  of 
Biblioteca  de  Autores  Espanoles,  by  Enrique  de  Vedia.  Libro  primero 
VOL.  I.  O 


2io  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


II 

Encomiendas  were  authorised  in  Peru  by  Charles  V, 
and  by  the  Law  of  Succession  provision  was  made  for 
their  descent  to  the  proper  heir  of  the  holder.  It  was 
provided  also  that  one  who  did  not  live  in  the  same 
province  as  the  Indians  assigned  to  him  might  hold  them 
in  this  relation  by  appointing  an  agent  who  should  reside 
in  the  province  with  the  Indians  in  question. 

While  these  measures  were  under  discussion,  the 
Spanish  authorities  appear  not  to  have  been  definitely 
persuaded  of  the  desirability  of  the  system.  Under 
this  condition  of  affairs,  Las  Casas’s  power  in  the  ad- 
vocacy of  the  liberation  of  the  Indians  became  especially 
manifest.  Before  the  council  at  Valladolid  he  announced 
the  proposition  that  the  Indians  were  by  nature  free  ; 
that,  under  the  Crown,  they  were  entitled  to  its  protec- 
tion ; and  that  they  “ should  be  immediately  declared 
free,  without  exception,  and  for  ever.”  The  argument 
that  their  labour  was  necessary  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  and  the  development  of  the  mines  was  swrept  away 
as  of  little  weight,  since  it  had  not  been  shovm  that  the 
mines  must  be  developed  or  the  land  cultivated,  if  these 
things  could  be  done  only  by  the  commission  of  a great 
uTong. 

Bartolome  de  las  Casas  was  born  in  Seville  in  1474, 
and  died  in  Madrid  in  1566.  He  wrent  to  Espanola  in 
1502  ; took  part  with  Velasquez  in  the  conquest  of  Cuba  ; 
returned  to  Spain  in  1515  to  plead  the  cause  of  the 
Indians  with  Ferdinand ; went  again  to  Espanola  in  1516, 
this  time  as  “ Protector  of  the  Indians.”  In  1521  he 
attempted  to  found  a colony  on  the  coast  of  Cumana  ; 
took  the  Dominican  habit  in  1522  ; in  retirement  for 

de  cabildo  de  Lima,  part  ii.  93-153,  contains  an  extensive  account  of 
the  encomiendas  of  Peru,  with  lists  of  the  encomiendas,  the  number 
of  Indians  of  each,  and  the  annual  tribute  from  each.  On  pp.  132-5 
are  given  detailed  references  to  the  literature  of  the  subject. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  211 


eight  years  ; was  Bishop  of  Chiapa,  in  Mexico,  1544- 
1547.  His  last  years  were  spent  in  Spain.  His  func- 
tions as  protector  of  the  Indians  were  to  uphold  the  laws 
and  ordinances  affecting  the  Indians,  to  seek  a remedy 
for  all  action  prejudicial  to  them  which  might  be  taken  ; 
to  appear  as  the  defender  of  the  Indians  before  the 
Spanish  authorities  ; and  to  limit  the  encroachments  and 
exactions  of  the  Spaniards ; in  a word,  to  interpose 
authority  to  prevent  abuses  to  which  the  Indians  might 
be  subjected  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards.1 

The  influence  of  Las  Casas,  at  the  time  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  New  Laws,  was  based  on  the  fact  that  he  had 
been  long  a conspicuous  figure  in  Spain,  and  that  his  con- 
duct had  placed  him  before  his  generation  as  a strong 
and  disinterested  character.  He  had,  moreover,  been  in 
the  Indies,  and  had,  probably,  a more  thorough  know- 
ledge of  the  public  affairs  of  America  than  any  other 
Spaniard,  and  in  liberating  his  serfs  or  slaves  he  had  given 
substantial  evidence  of  sincerity  in  his  purposes.  In 
1539  he  was  in  Spain,  and  his  great  influence  was  directed 
to  urging  the  adoption  of  a law,  which  he  hoped  would 
release  the  Indians  from  bondage  and  ameliorate  their 
condition.  The  advocates  of  this  reform  were  not  stimu- 
lated by  any  expectation  of  material  advantage  for  them- 
selves, but  their  opponents  were  moved  to  resistance  by 
the  prospects  of  the  loss  of  wealth  and  power.  Without 
being  able  to  command  the  services  of  the  Indians,  they 
feared  the  loss  of  their  revenues  and  a decline  in  the  value 
of  their  lands.  Although  they  might  have  set  up  claims 
for  vested  interests  destroyed,  yet  there  was  no  possi- 
bility of  recovering  an  indemnity  from  any  source.  The 
material  interests  of  Spain  herself  had  already  begun  to 
decline.  The  holders  of  land  in  America  had,  therefore, 


1 Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  vi.  tit.  vi.  ; Solorzano,  Politico.  Indiana, 
lib.  ii.  cap.  xxviii.  p.  123  ; Robertson,  Works  (Edinburgh,  1819), 
xi.  41.  See  Fabie,  Vida  y escritos  de  Fray  Bartolomi  de  las  Casas, 
Obispo  de  Chiapa  (Madrid,  1879). 


2i2  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


grounds  for  supposing  they  would  be  called  to  face  more 
or  less  complete  ruin  in  case  the  proposed  laws  were  passed 
and  executed.  In  view  of  the  difficulties  of  the  situation 
the  emperor’s  advisers  were  not  of  one  mind.  The  laws, 
however,  as  they  were  finally  issued  by  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  were  entirely  in  harmony  with  the  wishes  of 
Las  Casas  and  the  other  advocates  of  the  liberation  of 
the  Indians. 

The  New  Laws  were  framed  in  1542,  and  were  signed 
by  the  emperor  in  Barcelona  on  the  20th  of  November 
of  that  year,  nearly  a quarter  of  a century  after  Las 
Casas  had  urged  the  cause  of  the  Indians  upon  the 
authorities  of  Spain.  They  may  be  regarded  as  the  first 
important  result  of  his  long  and  persistent  advocacy  of 
the  Indians’  rights,  an  advocacy  which  overestimated 
the  ability  of  the  Indians  to  depart  from  the  status  fixed 
by  their  traditions  and  accept  the  conditions  of  civilized 
life.1 

These  laws,  while  emphasizing  certain  established 
features  of  Spanish  policy,  were  designed  to  effect  a 
reform  in  the  existing  relations  of  the  Spaniards  to  the 
Indians.  Important  items  of  reform  in  organisation  were 
the  creation  of  a viceroy  and  an  audiencia  to  reside  in 
Lima,  the  abolition  of  the  audiencia  of  Panama,  and  the 
creation  of  an  audiencia  for  Guatemala  and  Nicaragua. 
The  audiencias  were  commanded  to  inquire  into  the 
treatment  which  the  Indians  had  received  at  the  hands 
of  governors  and  private  persons  ; and,  in  case  of  ex- 
cesses and  ill-treatment,  the  guilty  parties  should  be 
punished  with  all  rigour  consistent  with  justice.  It  was 
the  will  of  the  king,  as  expressed  in  these  laws,  that  the 
Indians  should  not  be  made  slaves,  but  that  they  should 
be  treated  as  vassals  of  the  crown  of  Castile ; and,  more- 
over, that  the  Indians  should  not  be  made  to  carry 
burdens,  but  if  in  some  places  this  could  not  be  avoided, 
it  should  be  arranged  in  such  a manner  that  no  risk  of 

1 Fernandez,  Historia  del  Peril,  lib.  i.  cap.  i.-iii. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  213 

life,  health,  and  preservation  of  the  Indians  might  ensue 
from  an  immoderate  burden  ; and  in  no  case  against 
their  own  will  and  without  being  paid.  The  death  of 
many  Indians  and  negroes  in  the  pearl  fisheries  led  to  the 
command  that  no  free  Indians  should  be  taken  to  these 
fisheries  under  pain  of  death  ; and  that  if  the  risk  of  death 
to  the  slaves  employed  could  not  be  avoided,  the  fishing 
for  pearls  should  cease.  On  account  of  the  ill-treatment 
suffered  by  the  Indians  allotted  to  viceroys,  governors, 
and  their  lieutenants  ; to  officials,  prelates,  monasteries, 
hospitals,  houses  of  religion,  or  any  other  persons  favoured 
by  reason  of  their  offices,  it  was  ordered  that  all  Indians 
held  by  such  persons  or  institutions  should  be  immedi- 
ately placed  under  the  Crown,  even  though  these  persons 
might  wish  to  resign  their  offices  and  retain  their  Indians  ; 
and  that  all  Indians  held  by  any  persons  without  proper 
title  should  also  be  taken  away  and  placed  under  the 
Crown.  While  it  was  acknowledged  that  some  persons 
had  a sufficient  title  to  hold  Indians,  it  was  ordered  that 
where  the  number  held  was  excessive,  the  audiencia 
should  gather  the  necessary  information,  and  “ reduce 
the  allotments  made  to  the  said  persons  to  a fair  and 
moderate  quantity,”  and  place  the  rest  under  the  Crown. 
If  on  inquiry  it  was  found  that  any  Indians  had  not 
been  properly  treated  by  the  persons  to  whom  they  had 
been  allotted,  they  should  also  be  taken  away  and  placed 
under  the  Crown.  Under  these  laws  no  viceroy,  governor, 
audiencia,  or  other  person  should  have  power  to  allot 
Indians  in  encomienda.  It  was  seen  that  the  transfer 
of  Indians  to  the  Crown  on  the  death  of  the  holder  might, 
in  some  cases,  leave  deserving  persons  without  support, 
and  it  was,  therefore,  ordered  that  if  it  should  appear  to 
the  audiencia  that  there  was  a necessity  to  provide  sup- 
port for  the  widow  and  children,  that  body  might  allow 
them  a moderate  pension  out  of  the  tribute  to  be  paid 
to  the  Crown  by  the  Indians  after  their  transfer.  Dis- 
coverers of  new  regions  were  prohibited  under  pain  of 


214  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

death  from  taking  from  the  regions  discovered  any  In- 
dians whatsoever,  except  three  or  four  as  interpreters  ; 
and  the  discoverer  was  required  to  give  to  the  audiencia 
an  account  of  the  conduct  of  his  expedition  and  of  his 
discoveries,  on  which  the  audiencia  might  make  a full 
report  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies. 

The  New  Laws  having  been  framed,  there  remained  the 
still  more  difficult  task  of  causing  them  to  be  accepted 
and  obeyed.  To  execute  them  was  to  run  counter  to 
the  interests  of  the  higher  officials,  and  of  those  persons 
who  controlled  the  bulk  of  the  property  in  the  Indies. 
A member  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  Don  Tello  de 
Sandoval,  was  appointed  to  carry  them  to  Mexico  ; but 
a knowledge  of  them  had  reached  Mexico  before  the 
arrival  of  the  commissioner.  By  the  proposed  reform, 
the  Spanish  settlers  in  that  country  saw  themselves 
threatened  with  the  immediate  loss  of  the  results  of  all 
their  toil  and  adventure.  As  feudal  lords  over  the  Indians 
who  had  been  allotted  to  them,  and  as  vassals  of  the 
Crown,  they  held  positions  which  promised  not  only 
dignity  but  wealth  ; and  these  prospects  were  to  be  de- 
stroyed at  a single  blow.  The  despair  which  took  posses- 
sion of  the  inhabitants  was  shown  by  their  resolution  to 
clothe  themselves  in  mourning  robes,  as  at  a funeral,  and 
go  out  of  the  city  to  meet  the  messenger  of  their  evil 
fortunes.  But  the  viceroy  dissuaded  them  from  carrying 
out  this  plan.  On  the  8th  of  March  1544,  Sandoval 
arrived  at  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  was  almost  immediately 
met  with  petitions  and  remonstrances  concerning  the 
publication  of  the  laws  he  had  come  to  execute. 
But  in  spite  of  the  strong  and  universal  opposition  of  the 
Spanish  settlers,  the  laws  were  published  in  the  City  of 
Mexico,  March  24,  1544.  They  were  read  publicly  in  the 
presence  of  the  viceroy,  the  special  commissioner,  the 
judges,  and  the  other  royal  officials.  This  action  of  the 
authorities,  showing  a determination  on  their  part  to 
disregard  the  wishes  of  the  encomenderos,  raised  a storm 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  215 

of  indignation,  which  threatened  to  break  into  open  revolt. 
At  this  point  Bishop  Zumarraga  poured  oil  on  the  troubled 
waters  by  calling  a meeting  at  the  cathedral,  and  there 
leading  the  Spanish  settlers  to  believe  that  wherever  the 
laws  were  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the  Spaniards,  they 
would  not  be  enforced.  The  settlers  took  hope  not  only 
from  the  address  of  the  bishop,  but  also  from  the  know- 
ledge that  the  clergy  were  holders  of  important  encomi- 
endas,  and  that  their  interests  in  them  were  likely  to 
weaken  their  natural  loyalty  to  the  Crown.  The  eccle- 
siastics were,  with  very  few  exceptions,  in  favour  of 
continuing  the  system  of  encomiendas,  and  opposed  to 
the  liberation  of  the  Indians.  With  the  Church  as  an 
ally,  the  encomenderos  had  very  good  grounds  for  be- 
lieving their  cause  was  not  hopeless. 

In  view  of  the  great  losses  that  the  execution  of  the 
New  Laws  would  entail  on  large  numbers  of  the  Spanish 
settlers,  and  of  the  resistance  to  the  authorities  that 
might  be  aroused  by  an  attempt  to  enforce  them,  both 
Mendoza,  the  viceroy,  and  Sandoval  saw  the  necessity  of 
at  least  delaying  action.  Commissioners  representing  the 
municipality  and  the  religious  orders  were  sent  to  Spain 
to  ask  the  king  to  revoke  at  least  those  parts  of  the  New 
Laws  which  threatened  the  interests  of  the  settlers.  By 
a royal  decree  of  October  20,  1545,  the  desired  revocation 
was  granted.  This  action  filled  the  Spanish  settlers  with 
joy  and  the  enslaved  Indians  with  despair.1 

That  the  attempt  to  introduce  these  laws  did  not  lead 
to  bloodshed  or  a popular  uprising  in  Mexico  was  in  large 
measure  due  to  the  wise  discretion  of  the  viceroy,  Mendoza. 
In  Peru  the  outcome  was  quite  different.  Blasco  Nunez 
Vela  was  sent  to  be  the  first  occupant  of  the  newly- 

1 On  the  introduction  of  the  New  Laws  into  Mexico,  see  Diego 
Fernandez,  Historia  del  Peru,  cap.  i.-v.  This  work  was  originally  pub- 
lished in  Seville  in  1571,  but  the  copy  here  referred  to  was  published 
in  Lima  in  1876,  as  volumes  viii.  and  ix.  of  Odriozola’s  Documentos 
literarios  del  Peril.  Prescott  gives  a brief  account  of  Fernandez’s 
work  in  his  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  ii.  430-31. 


2 1 6 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


created  office  of  viceroy,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  the 
commissioner  to  introduce  the  New  Laws.  Vaca  de 
Castro,  after  the  battle  of  Chupas  and  the  subsequent 
execution  of  the  younger  Almagro,  attempted  to  improve 
the  state  of  the  Indian  population,  and  to  bring  about  a 
better  relation  between  the  Indians  and  the  Spaniards. 
A readjustment  of  the  affairs  of  the  repartimientos 
appeared  necessary  in  order  to  attain  the  last  object,  but 
in  this  undertaking  he  touched  the  most  sensitive  point 
of  the  Spanish  administration  in  America.  The  Spaniards 
held  with  great  tenacity  to  the  privilege  of  keeping  the 
Indians  in  service.  They  regarded  it  as  their  most 
valuable  reward  for  their  labours  and  dangers  of  discovery 
and  exploration,  and  at  the  same  time  as  the  necessary 
foundation  of  their  prosperity.  The  thought  that  the 
abolition  of  this  privilege  w'ould  entail  their  material 
ruin  led  them  to  oppose  vigorously  any  project  to  over- 
throw the  system  of  repartimientos.  It  was  this  spirit 
that  resisted  the  proposed  introduction  of  the  New  Laws. 

The  Spanish  settlers  of  Peru  foresaw  the  disadvantages 
to  themselves  that  would  result  from  the  enforcement  of 
these  laws,  and  appealed  to  the  government  of  Peru  to 
protect  them  against  the  destructive  measure  of  the 
Spanish  court ; but  when  they  discovered  that  a new 
government  was  to  be  established,  and  that  the  head  of 
this  government  was  to  be  a viceroy  especially  commis- 
sioned to  enforce  these  laws,  the  way  of  defence  and  self- 
preservation  seemed  to  lead  to  rebellion.  They  turned 
to  Gonzalo  Pizarro  with  the  demand  that  he  should  be- 
come their  leader.  As  the  last  of  the  brothers  of  the 
Pizarro  family  remaining  in  the  province,  he  was  regarded 
as  the  bearer  of  the  heroism  that  had  been  displayed  in 
the  conquest,  and  the  natural  defender  of  the  interests  of 
the  conquerors.  What  followed  was  civil  war. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  217 


III 

Gonzalo  Pizarro,  who  was  called  to  be  the  leader  of 
the  opposition  to  the  projected  reforms,  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  his  brother  Francisco  to  govern  Quito.  At 
the  same  time  he  had  been  instructed  to  explore  the  region 
towards  the  east.  Under  these  instructions  he  undertook 
the  ill-fated  expedition  of  1540,  an  expedition  which  was 
attended  by  an  unparalleled  series  of  hardships,  and 
which  gave  Orellana  an  opportunity,  by  abandoning  the 
company  with  a few  followers,  to  make  the  first  explora- 
tion of  the  whole  course  of  the  Amazon.1 

During  the  absence  of  Gonzalo,  Vaca  de  Castro  arrived 
at  Quito,  and,  having  learned  of  the  death  of  Francisco 
Pizarro,  prepared  to  assume,  in  accordance  with  his  in- 
structions providing  for  such  an  emergency,  the  title  and 
functions  of  governor  of  Peru.  After  his  return  from  the 
“ Land  of  Cinnamon,”  Gonzalo  Pizarro  offered  his  ser- 
vices to  Governor  Castro,  who  was  then  engaged  in  his 
campaign  against  the  younger  Almagro,  but  this  offer 
the  governor,  fearing,  perhaps,  the  influence  of  Pizarro’s 
ambitious  and  restless  spirit,  found  it  advisable  to  refuse. 
Later  Pizarro  appeared  in  Lima,  where  he  gave  expres- 
sion to  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  political  affairs  of 
the  country,  and  particularly  with  the  slight  shown  him 
in  the  failure  to  entrust  him  with  the  government  after 
his  brother’s  death.  In  the  meantime  Almagro  had  been 
defeated  at  the  battle  of  Chupas,  and  executed  at  Cuzco. 
The  followers  of  the  youthful  leader  had  ceased  to  exist 
as  an  effective  body.  Some  of  them  had  been  killed, 

1 Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  bk.  iv.  chap.  iv.  Orellana’s  voyage 
down  the  Amazon,  1540-41,  is  described  by  Herrera,  bk.  ix.,  Dec.  vi. 
English  translation  by  Markham  in  Hakluyt,  vol.  xxiv.  pp.  21-40. 
On  Gonzalo  Pizarro’s  trip  to  the  Land  of  Cinnamon,  and  the  desertion 
of  Orellana,  Garcilasso,  second  part  of  Commentaries,  English  translation, 
Hakluyt,  xxiv.  1-20.  The  Amazon  and  its  tributaries  are  the  subject 
of  chap.  v.  bk.  vi.  of  Juan  and  Ulloa,  A Voyage  to  South  America. 


2 1 8 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


some  imprisoned,  and  others  had  been  induced  to  join 
expeditions  to  unexplored  regions. 

Gonzalo  Pizarro  was  then  the  only  rival  with  whom 
Castro  had  to  reckon.  To  forestall  any  uprising  that 
Gonzalo’s  presence  might  provoke  in  Lima,  Castro  sent  a 
considerable  force  to  that  city  from  his  camp  at  Cuzco. 
At  the  same  time  he  ordered  Pizarro  to  present  himself 
at  Cuzco.  Castro  had  become  clearly  the  master  of  the 
situation,  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  finding  no  hopeful  pros- 
pects for  his  political  aspirations,  retired  to  La  Plata, 
and  devoted  himself  to  the  exploitation  of  his  mines. 

The  retirement  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  and  the  disper- 
sion of  his  followers  tended  to  promote  internal  peace. 
But  this  was  not  destined  to  continue.  Knowledge  of 
the  New  Laws  and  of  the  purposes  of  the  Spanish  court 
spread  rapidly  in  Peru,  and  practically  all  of  the  Spaniards 
in  the  country  saw  in  the  changes  proposed  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  hopes  of  material  prosperity.  There  was 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  Governor  Castro  would  zeal- 
ously espouse  the  cause  of  the  people  against  the  govern- 
ment. He  had  been  appointed  by  the  Crown,  and  was 
loyal  to  his  imperial  master.  He  had  no  material  in- 
terests that  would  be  disadvantageously  affected  by  the 
reforms,  and  his  short  residence  in  the  country  had  not 
enabled  him  to  participate  fully  in  the  desires  and  as- 
pirations of  the  people.  He,  moreover,  saw  that  the 
coming  of  the  viceroy  would  close  the  period  of  his  official 
responsibilities.  He  undertook  to  allay  the  storm  of  dis- 
satisfaction which  was  rising  around  him,  by  counselling 
delay,  patience,  and  attempts  to  secure  a repeal  of  the 
obnoxious  ordinances  by  means  of  petitions  to  the  Crown. 
But  the  colonists  were  in  no  mood  to  accept  these  sugges- 
tions. Their  views  were  very  positive,  and  they  only 
wished  a leader  under  whom  they  might  unite  and  carry 
them  out.  They  turned  to  Gonzalo  Pizarro.  He  made 
known  his  sympathy  with  their  cause,  but  he  was  not 
disposed  to  plunge  at  once  into  open  rebellion.  In  this 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  219 

determination  he  was  encouraged  by  letters  from  Gover- 
nor Castro,  who  hoped  to  suppress  the  popular  clamour 
by  causing  the  arrest  of  all  persons  whose  conduct  tended 
to  disturb  the  public  peace. 

In  January  1544,  Blasco  Nunez  Vela,  the  viceroy, 
landed  at  Nombre  de  Dios.  He  was  attended  by  the 
members  of  the  audiencia  and  by  a retinue,  with  which 
he  hoped  to  impress  upon  the  people  his  idea  of  the 
dignity  of  his  office.  His  arbitrary  acts  in  freeing  slaves, 
and  in  seizing  treasure  destined  for  Spain,  and  his  an- 
nouncement that  he  would  execute  the  laws  to  the  letter, 
whatever  might  be  the  consequence,  became  speedily 
known  throughout  Peru,  and  banished  all  hope  of  a 
compromise,  through  which  something  might  be  saved  in 
the  impending  disaster.  When  the  viceroy  had  advanced 
from  Panama  along  the  coast  and  landed  at  Tumbez, 
and  was  approaching  Lima,  the  inhabitants  proposed  to 
shut  the  gates  of  the  city  against  him.  They  were, 
however,  dissuaded  from  this  act  by  the  sober  counsel 
of  Governor  Castro.  In  their  state  of  fear,  indignation, 
and  determined  hostility,  they  turned  again  to  Gonzalo 
Pizarro,  who,  aggrieved  by  the  action  of  the  Spanish 
court  in  neglecting  his  claims  to  authority,  and  knowing 
the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  people,  determined 
to  accept  the  offered  leadership.  To  this  determination 
he  was,  moreover,  moved  by  the  prospect  of  losses  he 
would  suffer  under  the  proposed  reform,  and  not  a little 
by  his  personal  ambition.  The  municipality  of  Cuzco 
was  induced  to  bestow  the  military  command  to  which 
he  aspired,  and  which  he  accepted,  as  he  affirmed,  in 
order  that  he  might  serve  God  and  the  king  and  advance 
the  best  interests  of  Peru  and  of  all  the  Indies  in  general. 

Blasco  Nunez  arrived  at  Lima  unaccompanied  by  the 
audiencia.  He  had  left  that  body  at  Panama  on  account 
of  the  illness  of  one  of  the  members.  Vaca  de  Castro, 
the  municipal  authorities,  and  a considerable  number  of 
the  inhabitants  went  out  to  meet  him,  and  conducted 


220  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


him  into  the  city  in  great  state.  But  the  citizens  were 
moved  less  by  the  gorgeous  display  of  his  formal  entry 
than  by  his  unfortunate  announcement  that  the  exe- 
cution of  the  New  Laws  would  not  be  suspended. 
Mendoza,  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  had  faced  similar 
conditions  and  refused  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of 
these  laws  until  the  king  might  be  more  fully  informed 
concerning  the  state  of  affairs.  The  presence  of  Blasco 
Nunez  had  not  allayed  the  fears  which  his  utterances 
before  his  arrival  had  aroused.  On  the  contrary,  the 
new  statement  of  his  purposes  only  tended  to  increase 
the  alarm  and  strengthen  the  feeling  of  hostility. 

In  the  meantime,  Gonzalo  Pizarro  made  use  of  the 
product  of  his  mines  to  collect  and  equip  a body  of  sol- 
diers, with  w’hom  he  proposed  to  move  upon  Lima.  As 
he  advanced,  his  little  army  of  four  hundred  wras  increased 
by  various  accessions  until  it  amounted  to  about  twelve 
hundred  men. 

But  even  before  the  arrival  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rimac,  all  was  not  well  with  the  viceroy. 
Men  whom  he  had  trusted  had  betrayed  him  ; and  he 
suspected  others  vrho  deserved  his  confidence.  Instead 
of  following  the  wise  advice  of  Vaca  de  Castro,  he  im- 
prisoned him  in  a vessel  in  the  harbour.  He  undertook 
to  form  a military  force  by  a general  levy  of  the  citizens, 
but  he  wras  not  assured  of  their  loyalty.  To  these  em- 
barrassments others  wrere  added  by  the  arrival  of  the 
members  of  the  audiencia,  wiio  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
their  disapproval  of  the  viceroy’s  acts.  They  were  in 
favour  of  suspending  the  New  Law's,  and  of  obtaining  by 
negotiation  what  the  viceroy  was  trying  to  obtain  by 
raising  an  army.  They  condemned  his  arbitrary  im- 
prisonment of  prominent  men  whose  disloyalty  had  not 
been  proved,  and  they  broke  completely  with  the  viceroy 
by  going  to  the  prison  and  releasing  them. 

After  the  murder  of  Suarez  de  Carbajal  and  the  secret 
burial  of  his  mutilated  body,  the  cause  of  the  viceroy 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  221 


was  hopeless.  The  Spaniards  in  Peru  turned  away  from 
him,  persuaded  that  they  must  follow  either  the  audiencia 
or  Gonzalo  Pizarro.  From  this  state  of  things  it  was 
only  a step  to  the  succeeding  events : the  uprising  under 
the  audiencia,  the  storming  of  the  palace,  and  the  capture 
and  imprisonment  of  the  viceroy.1 

With  the  removal  of  the  viceroy,  the  supreme  power 
in  Peru  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  audiencia,  and  this  body 
determined  that  the  obnoxious  laws  should  not  be  exe- 
cuted until  instructions  could  be  received  from  the  king. 
It  also  decided  to  send  Blasco  Nunez  to  Spain.  The 
appearance  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  at  Jauja  with  a constantly 
increasing  force  was  a serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the 
audiencia.  Yet  the  ostensible  reason  for  the  creation  of 
this  force  had  disappeared.  Inca  Manco,  who  had  long 
terrorised  the  Spaniards,  had  been  killed  and  his  warriors 
scattered.  The  hateful  laws  had  been  suspended,  and 
the  unreasonable  viceroy  had  been  expelled  from  the 
country.  But  a troop  of  twelve  hundred  soldiers  and 
adventurers  could  not  be  expected  to  disperse  or  submit 
on  the  request  of  a body  of  judges  who  had  usurped 
the  authority  of  government.  To  the  message  of  the 
audiencia,  Pizarro,  therefore,  replied  that  if  that  body 
did  not  immediately  invest  him  with  the  government, 
the  city  would  be  taken  and  pillaged  by  his  soldiers.  A 
further  reason  for  compliance  was  furnished  by  Francisco 
de  Carbajal,  who  entered  the  city,  and  arrested  and 
hanged  some  of  the  deserters  who  had  left  Pizarro’s  force 
soon  after  its  organisation  at  Cuzco.  It  happened,  there- 
fore, that  it  was  on  the  invitation  of  the  audiencia  that 
Pizarro  entered  the  city  on  the  28th  of  October  1544. 
His  little  army,  accompanied  by  several  thousand  Indians, 
carrying  the  equipment  and  dragging  the  artillery,  made 
an  imposing  display.  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  after  the  judges  of 

1 Fernandez,  Hist,  del  Peril,  lib.  i.  cap.  vi.-xix. ; Calvete  de  Estrella, 
Rebelion  de  Pizarro  en  el  Peru  y vida  de  D.  Pedro  Gasca,  i.  37-56  ; Pres- 
cott, Conquest  of  Peru , ii.  237-56. 


222  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


the  audiencia  had  administered  to  him  the  oath  of  office, 
was  proclaimed  Governor  and  Captain-General  of  Peru. 

But  the  unexpected  was  to  happen.  Alvarez,  a mem- 
ber of  the  audiencia,  who  had  been  charged  to  conduct 
Blasco  Nunez  to  Spain,  for  some  unexplained  reason, 
announced  to  his  prisoner,  soon  after  the  vessel  had  left 
the  port,  that  he  was  free,  and  that  the  vessel  would  take 
him  to  any  port  where  he  might  wish  to  land.  While 
there  was  still  a chance  to  regain  his  position  and  fulfil 
his  mission,  the  viceroy  was  unwilling  to  return  to  Spain 
in  disgrace.  He,  therefore,  landed  at  Tumbez,  and,  by 
appealing  to  the  loyalty  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  region, 
soon  gathered  under  his  command  a considerable  body  of 
volunteers,  but  they  were  neither  effectively  armed  nor 
well  disciplined.  Pizarro,  however,  recognised  that  this 
force  might  receive  such  accessions  as  to  endanger  his 
tenure  of  power,  particularly  as  the  viceroy  could  properly 
claim  to  be  the  legitimate  head  of  the  government. 
This  danger  appeared  to  be  sufficiently  great  to  call 
for  a vigorous  effort  to  crush  the  uprising  in  favour 
of  the  viceroy.  Pizarro,  therefore,  sent  a body  of  soldiers 
towards  the  north,  and  then  at  Trujillo  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  a force  larger  than  that  which  Blasco  Nunez 
had  been  able  to  organise.1 

The  campaign  which  ensued  was  marked  by  the  flight 
of  the  viceroy  and  his  men  through  the  wilderness  to 
Quito  and  beyond  to  the  town  of  Popayan,  and  the  close 
pursuit  by  Pizarro  and  his  troops  ; and  finally  the  return 
of  both  parties  to  Quito.  The  crisis  of  the  campaign 
came  with  the  battle  of  Anaquito,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  the  viceroy  and  the  overthrow  of  his  troops, 
about  a third  of  whom  perished.  At  the  solemn  funeral 
of  Blasco  Nunez  Vela,  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  dressed  in  black, 
appeared  as  the  chief  mourner. 

1 Blasco  Nunez  is  reported  to  have  had  500  men,  and  Pizarro  600. 
This  episode  is  given  in  detail  by  Diego  Fernandez,  Historia  del  Peru , 
lib.  i.  cap.  xxii.-xxxiv. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  223 

In  July  1546,  Pizarro  left  a garrison  at  Quito,  and 
proceeded  southward.  He  was  greeted  everywhere  with 
enthusiasm,  and  at  Lima  a returning  conqueror,  who  had 
liberated  an  oppressed  people,  could  have  had  no  more 
gorgeous  triumph.  He  received  congratulations  presented 
by  delegates  from  various  towns  and  districts,  and  after 
Diego  Centeno’s  rebellion  in  Charcas  had  been  suppressed, 
he  was  the  undisputed  master  of  Peru.  His  power  was 
everywhere  acknowledged,  from  Quito  on  the  north  to 
the  border  of  Chile  on  the  south,  and  even  the  towns  on 
the  Isthmus,  which  constituted  the  key  to  the  Pacific,  had 
fallen  into  his  hands.  He  was  apparently  in  a favourable 
position  to  assume  sovereign  power,  and  to  erect  in  Peru 
an  independent  monarchy ; and  among  his  followers 
there  were  some  who  urged  him  to  take  this  course,  but 
he  hesitated  to  strike  directly  at  the  authority  of  the 
Crown.  Carbajal,  his  adviser,  was,  however,  averse  to  all 
projects  involving  compromise,  and  saw  no  successful  way 
to  a safe  and  stable  position  except  by  a bold  assertion 
and  vigorous  defence  of  the  power  he  had  attained. 
Addressing  Pizarro  he  said  : “You  have  already  taken 
up  arms  against  the  viceroy,  the  legitimate  representative 
of  the  sovereign  ; you  have  expelled  him  from  the  coun- 
try ; you  have  defeated  and  killed  him  in  a battle  ; you 
can  never  hope  to  obtain  pardon  from  the  Crown  for  such 
acts.  You  have  gone  too  far  to  stop  or  turn  back.  You 
should  now  take  possession  of  the  government  of  the 
country  which  your  family  conquered.  Go  on,  and  pro- 
claim yourself  king  : the  people  and  the  army  will  support 
you.  By  making  grants  of  land  and  of  titles  of  nobility, 
you  will  gain  for  yourself  the  affection  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  by  marrying  a princess  of  the  family  of  the  Incas, 
you  will  be  able  to  render  your  exercise  of  power  legiti- 
mate in  the  eyes  of  the  Indians.  In  this  manner  the  two 
races  will  be  able  to  live  in  tranquillity  under  a common 
sceptre.”  1 

1 Barros  Arana,  Historia  de  America , i.  340. 


224  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

But  Gonzalo  Pizarro  lacked  the  courage  to  be 
“ splendidly  wicked.”  He  consequently  sent  to  the  king 
an  elaborate  report  of  his  conduct,  in  order  to  justify 
himself  and  to  solicit  from  the  Crown  confirmation  in  the 
power  he  was  exercising. 


IV 

The  information  which  reached  Spain  concerning  the 
events  in  Peru  gave  the  government  ground  for  serious 
reflection.  The  obstacles  in  the  way  of  subduing  the 
rebellion  by  force  appeared  to  be  insurmountable.  The 
Isthmus  was  held  by  Pizarro,  and  very  great  difficulties 
would  be  encountered  in  attempting  to  reach  Peru  by 
any  other  route.  Pizarro’s  vessels  commanded  the 
Pacific,  and  even  if  the  royalist  forces  succeeded  in  landing 
they  would  be  greatly  handicapped,  as  compared  with  the 
veterans  of  Pizarro,  by  an  unknown  country  and  an  un- 
tried climate.  There  was  also  a danger  that  the  new 
troops  would  be  allured  by  the  expectation  of  rich  booty 
or  the  spoils  of  the  mines,  and,  disregarding  their  alle- 
giance to  the  king,  ally  themselves  with  the  forces  in 
insurrection.  The  Crown  had,  therefore,  to  adopt  some 
other  policy  than  uncompromising  coercion,  or  run  the 
risk  of  losing  Peru  completely. 

In  this  critical  state  of  affairs,  the  court  adopted  a 
plan  of  conciliation,  and  Pedro  de  la  Gasca  was  commis- 
sioned to  undertake  the  difficult  task  of  bringing  Peru 
to  acknowledge  and  maintain  allegiance  to  the  sovereign. 
Gasca  left  Spain  for  Peru  in  May  1546.  As  a youth  he 
had  been  a student  in  the  seminary  of  Alcala  de  Henares, 
and  later  at  Salamanca,  In  the  war  of  the  communes  he 
was  distinctly  a partisan  of  the  Crown.  He  had  been  a 
member  of  the  council  of  the  Inquisition,  and  had  held 
the  responsible  post  of  visitador  of  the  kingdom  of  Valencia. 
When  he  was  appointed  to  the  important  undertaking  in 
Peru,  he  was  known  to  have  already  managed  difficult 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  225 

cases  with  great  skill  and  discretion.  He  accepted  the 
appointment,  and  seeing  the  necessity  of  independent 
action  in  possible  emergencies,  without  being  compelled 
to  wait  for  instructions  from  the  court,  he  demanded  that 
he  should  be  clothed  with  all  of  the  authority  of  the  sove- 
reign within  the  field  of  his  activity.  The  Council  of  the 
Indies  was  neither  willing  nor  able  to  convey  this  degree 
of  power  ; whereupon  Gasca  appealed  to  the  emperor,  who 
granted  willingly  this  apparently  extravagant  demand. 
Under  the  simple  title  of  President  of  the  Audiencia  he 
was  empowered  to  do  whatever  the  King  of  Spain  might 
do  under  the  given  conditions.  He  was  at  the  head  of 
every  department  of  the  administration  ; he  might  raise 
troops,  appoint  and  remove  officers,  and  declare  war ; he 
might  exercise  the  royal  prerogative  of  pardoning  offences  ; 
and  was  especially  commissioned  to  grant  an  amnesty  to 
all  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  rebellion.  He  was 
authorised  to  revoke  the  ordinances  which  had  caused  the 
popular  uprising  and  the  overthrow  of  Blasco  Nunez  ; 
and,  returning  to  the  earlier  practice,  he  might  make 
repartimientos,  or  confirm  those  which  had  been  pre- 
viously made.  In  accordance  with  his  expressed  wish, 
he  was  granted  no  specific  salary,  but  he  might  make  any 
demands  on  the  treasuries  of  Panama  and  Peru.1 

On  landing  at  Santa  Marta  in  July  1546,  Gasca  was 
informed  of  the  battle  of  Anaquito,  and  the  establishment 
of  Gonzalo  Pizarro’s  power  throughout  Peru.  After  con- 
sidering various  plans  with  reference  to  entering  Peru,  he 
finally  determined  to  proceed  to  Nombre  de  Dios.  Here 
he  landed  in  the  plain  garb  of  a simple  ecclesiastic,  and 
those  who  received  him  were  not  then  aware  that  he  was 
the  bearer  of  the  essential  powers  of  an  absolute  prince. 

1 The  Real  Cedula,  issued  by  Charles  V to  Gasca,  conveying  these 
powers,  was  dated  February  16,  1546,  and  is  printed  in  Odriozola's 
Documentos  literarios  del  Peru,  iv.  360-62.  See  Fernandez,  Historia 
del  Peril,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xiv.-xvii.,  particularly  the  emperor's  letter  of 
August  16,  1545,  in  cap  xv.,  and  Gasca’s  letter  in  cap.  xvii.;  Doc. 
inid.,  xxiii.  507,  516. 

VOL.  I. 


F 


226  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


In  his  interview  with  Hernan  Mexia,  whom  Pizarro  had 
placed  in  charge  of  the  important  military  post  of  the 
Isthmus,  he  informed  that  officer  that  the  policy  which 
he  proposed  to  carry  out  was  a policy  of  pardon  and 
conciliation  ; that  he  proposed  to  annul  the  objectionable 
ordinances  ; and  that,  as  this  was  the  purpose  of  the 
uprising,  any  further  continuance  in  hostility  towards  the 
government  of  the  emperor  would  be  wilful  rebellion. 
Mexia  believed  that  Pizarro  would  see  the  force  of  this 
reasoning,  and  indicated  to  the  president  his  willingness 
to  co-operate  with  him  in  attempting  to  re-establish  the 
royal  authority  in  Peru.1 

From  Panama,  Gasca  wrote  to  Pizarro,  and  at  the 
same  time  fonvarded  to  him  the  conciliatory  letter  of 
the  emperor.  Pic  indicated  his  determination  to  concede 
all  that  Pizarro  had  contended  for.  When  the  reply  to 
these  letters  u-as  received,  it  wras  in  the  form  of  a letter 
from  the  inhabitants  of  Lima,  dated  October  14,  1546, 
congratulating  the  president  on  his  arrival,  but  expressing 
regret  that  he  had  come  so  late,  after  all  the  troubles  of 
the  country  had  been  settled,  and  peace  had  been  estab- 
lished under  the  rule  of  Pizarro.  At  the  same  time, 
Gasca  wras  informed  that  an  embassy  was  on  its  way  to 
the  Spanish  court  to  ask  that  Pizarro  might  be  confirmed 
as  governor  of  Peru,  and  that  the  headship  of  this  mission 
had  been  entrusted  to  Lorenzo  de  Aldana.  It  was, 
moreover,  intimated  that  the  presence  of  the  president 
would  be  likely  to  renew  the  social  disturbance,  and 
might  cost  him  his  life.  The  interview  between  Aldana 
and  the  president,  in  which  the  former  learned  the  extent 
of  Gasca’s  powers  and  the  nature  of  the  concessions  to 
Pizarro  and  his  followers,  changed  materially  the  pros- 
pects of  both  parties.  Aldana  abandoned  his  mission 
to  Spain,  accepted  the  offered  pardon,  agreed  to  support 
the  president,  and  recommended  to  Pizarro  to  pursue  the 
same  course. 

1 Fernandez,  Historia  del  Peru,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xxi. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  227 

Another  important  step  in  the  progress  of  Gasca’s  cause 
was  the  acceptance  of  the  president’s  views  by  Hinojosa 
and  the  surrender  of  the  fleet.  Hinojosa  and  his  officers 
gave  up  their  commissions  into  the  hands  of  the  president 
as  the  representative  of  the  Spanish  Crown.  In  return, 
the  president,  in  the  name  of  the  Crown,  pardoned  all  past 
offences,  restored  to  the  officers  their  commissions,  and 
greeted  them  as  the  loyal  subjects  of  the  emperor.1  By 
this  politic  act,  Pizarro’s  power  on  the  ocean  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  president  undiminished. 

After  Gasca  had  obtained  possession  of  the  fleet,  the 
way  to  Peru  was  open  to  him,  and  the  later  events  of  his 
contest  with  the  insurgents  followed  one  another  in  rapid 
succession.  When  he  had  learned  that  Pizarro  had  re- 
jected his  peaceful  overtures  and  had  determined  to  appeal 
to  arms,  Gasca  had  to  accept  the  challenge,  for  there  was 
no  alternative.  He  then  began  to  make  preparations  for 
collecting  and  organising  a military  force.  He  sought  to 
enter  into  such  relations  with  Guatemala  and  Mexico  that 
he  might  receive  troops  from  them  in  an  emergency. 
But  this  emergency  did  not  arise,  for,  in  spite  of  the 
neglect  and  abuses  of  the  home  government,  there  re- 
mained a sufficient  basis  of  loyalty  in  the  colonists  to 
incline  them  to  abide  by  their  traditional  allegiance  when 
there  were  no  longer  any  practical  grievances  to  move 
them  to  rebellion.  In  the  north,  Benalcazar,  who  had 
taken  the  part  of  the  rejected  viceroy,  was  willing  to 
proceed  against  Pizarro ; and  in  the  south,  Centeno  and 
his  followers  had  been  temporarily  subdued,  but  not 
converted  into  active  supporters  of  the  insurgent  cause. 
Even  the  forces  of  Pizarro  actually  under  arms  found  it 
for  their  advantage  in  many  cases  to  desert  and  accept 
the  amnesty  offered  by  Gasca  in  the  name  of  the  Crown. 
Although  in  the  battle  of  Huarina  the  royalist  forces, 
under  Centeno,  were  defeated  and  scattered  in  hopeless 

1 Mendiburu,  iv.  272-6  ; Prescott,  ii.  347-61  ; Fernandez,  Historia 
del  Peru,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xxiv.-xxv. 


228  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


confusion,  yet  in  the  engagement  at  Jaquijaguana  Pizarro 
and  his  followers  were  routed  and  his  cause  was  lost. 
This  was  properly  the  end  of  the  play.  The  curtain  might 
very  well  be  allowed  to  hide  the  remaining  scenes  : the 
executions  and  the  confiscation  of  property  which  followed 
do  not  appear  to  be  an  essential  part  of  a policy  of  con- 
ciliation. 

Pizarro,  who  was  beheaded  after  the  battle  of  Jaqui- 
jaguana, was  the  victim  of  unwise  advice  and  a popular 
uprising,  which  claimed  him  as  its  leader  and  offered  him 
as  its  sacrifice.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  forty- 
two  years  old,  a man  of  fine  presence,  fond  of  display,  a 
favourite  of  the  people,  but  lacking  the  iron  will  of  his 
eldest  brother,  Francisco,  and  the  selfishness,  arrogance, 
and  unscrupulousness  of  Hernando.  Carbajal,  who  had 
been  Gonzalo’s  chief  lieutenant,  and  who  was  executed 
about  the  same  time,  was  grim,  cruel,  suspicious,  stoical, 
given  to  coarse  and  frightful  jests  in  the  presence  of  the 
greatest  danger  and  even  of  certain  death,  had  reached 
the  age  of  eighty-four  at  the  time  of  his  execution,  with 
practically  no  diminution  of  his  powers.  The  score  of 
other  officers  who  suffered  death  under  the  president’s 
orders  appear  to  have  been  a bloody  sacrifice  to  Gasca’s 
hatred,  rather  than  the  victims  of  a military  or  political 
necessity  ; and  it  does  not  appear  that  these  executions 
contributed  to  the  internal  peace  and  order  of  the  king- 
dom. Beginning  with  insinuating  professions  of  pardon 
and  conciliation,  his  brief  administration  passed,  leaving 
behind  it  a broad  trail  of  blood.  He  confiscated  the 
property  of  those  who  had  fought  for  the  abolition  of 
ordinances  which  the  government  itself  at  last  found 
ill-advised.  With  the  products  of  this  confiscation  he 
rewarded  his  followers,  especially  distinguishing  by  his 
favours  those  who  through  treachery  and  desertion  had 
embarrassed  his  enemy.  In  attempting  to  distribute  the 
spoils,  Gasca  was  overwhelmed  by  a multitude  of  persons 
who  wished  to  have  their  claims  recognised  ; and  finally. 


NEW  LAWS  AND  CIVIL  WAR  229 

in  order  to  be  free  from  their  importunities,  he  retired  to 
a little  village  in  the  valley  of  Guaynarima  about  twelve 
leagues  from  Cuzco.  Here,  assisted  by  Loayza,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Lima,  he  provided  for  grants  of  land  and  Indians, 
and  committed  the  record  of  the  assignments  to  the  arch- 
bishop. After  Gasca’s  departure  this  schedule  was  pub- 
lished, producing  a state  of  general  dissatisfaction,  which 
the  president,  by  reason  of  his  absence,  was  relieved  from 
the  necessity  of  facing.  He  embarked  for  Spain,  by  way 
of  Panama,  in  January  1550,  and  left  the  country,  to 
quote  the  judgment  of  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  “ in  the 
greatest  confusion,  and  all  the  most  difficult  adminis- 
trative points  to  be  settled  by  others.”  1 The  task  of 
bringing  order  out  of  the  social  chaos  was  taken  up  by 
the  audiencia,  who  conducted  the  government  until  Sep- 
tember 1551,  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the  second  viceroy, 
Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza.2 

1 History  of  Peru  (Chicago,  1892),  134. 

2 See  Mendoza’s  Ordenanzas  y compilacion  de  leyes,  1552  [Doc. 
ined.,  viii.  55-101). 

An  elaborate  account  of  Gasca’s  conflict  with  Gonzalo  Pizarro, 
and  of  Gasca’s  administration,  is  found  in  Fernandez,  Historia  del 
Peru , lib.  ii.  cap.  xxiv.-xcv.,  and  lib.  iii.  cap.  i.-ix.  A still  more  ex- 
tensive account  is  contained  in  Calvete  de  Estrella,  Rebelion  de  Pizarro 
en  el  Peru  y vida  de  D.  Pedro  Gasca,  2 vols.,  Madrid,  1889  (Coleccion 
de  Escritores  Castellanos).  The  sentence  of  death  passed  on  Gonzalo 
Pizarro,  at  Jaquijaguana,  April  9,  1548,  is  printed  in  Prescott,  Con- 
quest of  Peru,  ii.  472.  The  Appendix  to  Fernandez,  Historia  del  Peru, 
contains  important  documents  on  Gasca  and  his  mission  : 

I.  Instruction  que  dio  el  Sefior  Don  Felipe  II  al  Licenciado  Pedro 
de  la  Gasca,  enviandole  a pacificar  el  Peru. 

II.  Historia  de  Don  Pedro  Gasca,  Obispo  de  Sigiienza. 

III.  Poder  y comision  al  Licenciado  Gasca  para  perdouar  delitos. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  AND  THE 
INDIA  HOUSE 

I.  The  Council  of  the  Indies.  II.  The  organisation  and  functions 
of  the  India  House,  or  Casa  de  Contratacion 

I 

The  maintenance  of  the  unlimited  power  of  the  Spanish 
Crown  made  easy  the  adoption  of  the  fundamental  pro- 
vision of  Spain’s  American  policy,  namely,  that  Spanish 
America  should  be  regarded  and  treated  as  directly  sub- 
ject to  the  king,  and  not  to  be  controlled  by  the  func- 
tionaries hitherto  existing  for  the  government  of  Spain. 
When  it  is  said  that  Spain  founded  her  rights  in  the  New 
World  on  the  celebrated  bull  of  Alexander  VI,  which 
was  designed  to  put  an  end  to  conflicting  pretensions 
between  Spain  and  Portugal,  there  is  revealed  an  attempt 
to  conceal  the  fact  that  the  only  claims  which  Spain  or 
the  Spanish  king  had  to  lands  in  America  were  based 
on  usurpation.  Carrying  the  pretended  right  back  to  a 
grant  by  the  pope  only  fixed  the  act  of  usurpation  one 
step  earlier.  But  whatever  title  was  transmitted  by  the 
papal  bull  was  conveyed  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  not 
to  the  Spanish  nation  ; and  the  subsequent  political  and 
ecclesiastical  administration  of  the  affairs  of  Spanish 
America  was  carried  on  under  the  presumption  that  the 
king  was  the  sole  political  superior.  From  a strictly 
legal  point  of  view,  Mexico  and  Peru,  and,  later,  the  other 
states  of  equal  dignity,  appear  as  kingdoms  in  a personal 
union  with  the  kingdom  of  Spain,  rather  than  as  colonies 
in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  that  term. 

230 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  231 

The  project  to  maintain  the  government  of  the 
American  dependencies  separate  and  distinct  from  the 
government  of  Spain,  except  in  so  far  as  the  king  was  a 
common  superior,  necessitated  the  creation  of  new  insti- 
tutions and  new  laws  for  the  American  kingdoms.  New 
institutions  were  formed  for  the  special  work  of  governing 
in  America,  and,  except  in  very  rare  instances,  they 
exercised  no  power  with  reference  to  affairs  in  Spain. 
The  first  in  rank  of  these  special  agencies  was  the  Council 
of  the  Indies.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  institu- 
tions were  formed  after  a plan  which  was  complete  in  the 
mind  of  the  king  or  in  the  mind  of  any  other  person  when 
their  organisation  was  begun.  They  grew  as  the  need  of 
them  became  apparent,  and  the  general  direction  of  their 
growth  was  determined  by  the  spirit  which  dominated 
the  Spanish  government,  and  by  previously  existing 
Spanish  institutions.  As  soon  as  the  discovery  of  America 
was  known  in  Spain,  it  became  necessary  that  there  should 
be  some  man  or  body  of  men,  who  might  advise  the  Crown 
with  respect  to  the  management  of  the  new  possessions. 
Out  of  this  need  arose  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  but  it 
did  not  come  into  existence  full-grown.  At  first  its 
undeveloped  or  partially  developed  functions  were  per- 
formed by  Juan  de  Fonseca,1  Archdeacon  of  Seville,  who 
from  time  to  time  was  assisted  by  other  persons.  During 
the  first  two  decades  after  Columbus’  first  voyage, 
American  affairs  demanded  little  attention,  except  such  as 
was  given  to  fitting  out,  and  prescribing  regulations  for, 
voyages  of  discovery  and  exploration.  In  this  period,  the 
persons  who  assisted,  or  acted  with,  Fonseca  were  usually 
members  of  the  Council  of  Castille.  A fully  organised 
and  independent  council,  whose  members  had  no  other 
functions  than  considering  American  affairs,  would  have 
been  practically  a sinecure.  But  ultimately,  with  the 
increase  of  settlements,  a permanent  body  was  needed 

1 See  Washington  Irving’s  view  of  Fonseca’s  character  and  conduct, 
in  Voyages  of  Columbus  (Paris,  1829),  iv.  403-10. 


2 3 2 THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

which  might  advise  the  Crown  and,  with  the  consent  of 
the  king,  exercise  most  of  the  functions  of  a supreme 
governmental  agency.  To  meet  this  need,  the  Council 
of  the  Indies  was  given  its  definite  form  and  powers.  It 
was,  moreover,  required  to  reside  at  court,  and  might  be 
presided  over  by  the  king.  In  this  character,  as  a body 
under  the  presidency  of  the  king,  it  held  supreme  and 
exclusive  jurisdiction  in  the  affairs  of  the  Indies.  The 
separation  of  powers,  which  has  become  a familiar  feature 
of  modern  states,  was  not  carefully  regarded  in  Spain  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  Council  of  the  Indies  covered 
the  whole  field  of  governmental  activity.  It  was  a legis- 
lative body,  in  that  from  it  proceeded  the  laws  for  the 
government  of  the  Spanish  possessions  in  America  ; it 
was  also  a judicial  body,  sitting  as  a court  of  final  appeal 
for  all  cases  concerning  American  affairs  which  were  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  carried  to  it ; and  it  was, 
furthermore,  an  executive  body,  inasmuch  as  its  advice 
was  sought  by  the  king  on  all  questions  of  great  import- 
ance in  the  administration  of  the  Indies.  It  was  organ- 
ised in  1524,  and  was  granted  “ the  same  exemptions 
and  privileges  as  the  Council  of  Castillo  ; the  same  power 
to  make  laws  with  the  consent  of  the  king  ; the  same 
supreme  jurisdiction  in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  and 
over  the  natives  of  these  regions,  although  they  might 
reside  in  Castille,  subjecting  to  itself  the  audiencia  of  the 
contratacion  of  Seville,  and  declaring  it  expressly  inhibited 
to  all  the  councils  and  tribunals  of  Spain,  except  the 
Inquisition,  to  take  cognisance  of  anything  concerning 
the  Indies.”  1 

Prior  to  its  organisation,  some  of  the  cases  which 
afterwards  fell  under  its  authority  were  considered  by  the 
Council  of  Castille.  But  after  it  had  been  established, 

1 Alaman,  Historia  de  Mejico,  i.  34.  Although  not  fully  formed  in 
15x1,  it  had  become  at  this  time  an  effective  body,  so  that  it  is  said  that 
“ it  was  instituted  by  Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  perfected  by  the  Emperor 
Charles  V,  and  reformed  by  Philip  If.”  It  was  abolished  March  24, 
1834. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  233 

it  was  the  will  of  the  king  that  it  should  have  supreme 
jurisdiction  over  all  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  discovered 
and  to  be  discovered,  and  over  all  the  affairs  that  might 
arise  or  proceed  from  them. 

The  difficulty  of  dealing  with  affairs  so  little  under- 
stood as  were  the  affairs  of  the  Indies  made  it  appear 
desirable  that  in  the  supreme  council  of  the  Indies 
there  should  be  ordinarily  some  councillors  who  were 
natives  of  the  Indies,  or  who,  at  least,  had  served  many 
years  in  the  audiencias,  where  they  might  have  acquired 
intimate  and  practical  knowledge  of  all  the  affairs  of  the 
colonial  administration,  and  who  might  give  their  col- 
leagues the  information  required  to  enable  them  to  act 
with  discretion.  An  important  function  of  the  council 
was  to  consider  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for 
ecclesiastical  or  secular  positions,  for  the  purpose  of 
advising  the  king  with  respect  to  their  appointment.  In 
selecting  persons  for  the  various  offices,  it  was  considered 
desirable  to  give  preference  to  persons  who  had  had 
experience  in  the  Indies  ; and,  in  filling  judicial  positions, 
to  consider  the  judges  of  the  lower  courts  with  the  view 
of  promoting  those  who  might  have  achieved  distinction. 

Among  other  things  which  show  the  authority  and 
supreme  power  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies  is  the  fact 
that  it  was  commissioned  and  empowered  to  perform  and 
issue  laws,  rescripts,  decrees,  and  ordinances  in  the  name 
of  the  king,  when  it  might  appear  that  they  were  needed 
for  the  good  government  of  the  Indies.  These  laws  and 
ordinances  were  afterwards  collected  in  the  Recopilacion 
de  Leyes  de  los  Reynos  de  las  Indias.  They  constitute  a 
code  distinct  from  the  laws  that  were  in  force  in  Spain, 
and  furnish  the  provisions,  under  which,  in  so  far  as  they 
were  obeyed,  the  public  affairs  of  these  kingdoms  were 
conducted. 

Although  the  Council  of  the  Indies  was  expected  to 
abstain  from  intervening  in  judicial  contests  carried  on 
before  other  courts,  as  far  as  it  was  possible,  yet  cases 


234  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

concerning  the  Indians  and  certain  cases  on  appeal  from 
other  tribunals  might  be  brought  before  it.  It  exercised 
original  jurisdiction,  particularly  in  matters  relating  to 
encomiendas  of  Indians,  the  annual  income  of  which 
exceeded  one  thousand  dollars.  It  might  also  review 
judgments  rendered  in  cases  of  the  residencia  of  corre- 
gidores,  governors,  royal  officials,  judges,  presidents, 
viceroys,  and  other  officers,  civil  or  military,  who  were 
subject  to  this  form  of  judicial  examination.  Owing  to 
the  great  distance  and  the  infrequent  communication,  a 
period  of  one  year  was  allowed  for  bringing  to  the  council 
a case  appealed  from  a tribunal  in  America. 

The  Council  of  the  Indies  was  the  general  adviser  of 
the  absolute  king,  and  in  this  capacity  it  prepared  the 
necessary  laws  for  the  dependencies,  tried  certain  import- 
ant cases  that  were  brought  before  it,  and  performed 
much  of  the  executive  work  that  nominally  belonged  to 
the  king.  But  the  executive  functions  of  the  Council  of 
the  Indies  were  very  limited  in  comparison  with  those 
performed  by  the  Casa  de  Contratacion,  or  India  House.1 


II 

Provision  having  been  made  for  the  management  of 
the  political  affairs  of  Spanish  America  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  a second  body  was  then 
created  to  take  immediate  control  of  the  economic  affairs. 
This  body  had  its  beginning  in  the  exchange  of  Seville 
and  the  custom-house  of  Cadiz,  which  were  established 
between  the  first  and  second  voyages  of  Columbus.2  When 
it  had  taken  definite  form,  it  was  known  as  the  Casa  de 

1 Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  ii.  tit.  ii.;  lib.  v.  tit.  xiii.,  leyes  i-io.  Solor- 
zano,  lib.  v.  cap.  xv.-xviii. 

2 Lafuentc,  Historia  de  Espana,  ix.  467  ; Beaulieu,  Colonization, 

26 ; " Instrucion  pora  facer  una  casa  de  contratacion  en  Sevilla, 

pora  la  negociacion  de  las  Indias,  January  20,  1503.”  Doc.  in£d., 
xxxi.  139-55. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  235 

Contratacion,  which  may  be  appropriately  designated  in 
English  as  the  India  House.  It  was  definitely  established 
at  Seville  in  1503.  In  this  year  it  was  ordered  that  a 
house  should  be  built  in  the  shipyards  of  Seville,  for  the 
trade  and  commerce  of  the  West  Indies,  the  Canaries, 
and  such  other  islands  as  were  already  discovered,  or 
might  be  discovered  in  the  future.  To  this  “ house  was 
to  be  brought  all  merchandise,  and  other  things  necessary 
to  this  trade,”  whether  designed  for  shipment  to  the 
Indies,  or  to  be  returned  from  America. 

This  organisation  was  made  specially  necessary  by  the 
plan  of  the  Spanish  king  to  subject  the  trade  with  America 
to  a rigid  and  exclusive  monopoly.  Under  its  control, 
Seville  became  the  only  port  from  which  ships  might  be 
sent  to  America,  and  through  which  colonial  products 
might  enter  in  return.  The  India  House  took  account 
of  everything  that  concerned  the  economic  affairs  of  the 
Indies  ; it  had  power  to  grant  licences,  to  equip  vessels, 
to  determine  their  destination,  and  to  give  them  instruc- 
tions as  to  their  loading  and  sailing.  In  the  performance 
of  its  ample  judicial  functions,  it  consulted  lawyers,  who 
were  paid  by  the  government.  From  its  decisions  appeal 
could  be  taken  only  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies.  Its 
officers  consisted  of  a president,  a treasurer,  a secretary, 
an  agent,  three  judges  or  commissioners,  an  attorney, 
and  such  other  ministers  and  officials  as  might  be  pro- 
vided for  by  law.  If  it  is  said  that  the  Council  of  the 
Indies  stood  for  the  king  in  political  matters,  and  the 
India  House  in  economic  affairs,  the  significance  of  the 
latter  body  is  not  thereby  fully  presented.  The  activity 
of  the  India  House  is  contrasted  with  that  of  the  Council 
of  the  Indies  by  its  larger  executive  functions,  its  more 
immediate  participation  in  the  practical  work  of  adminis- 
tration, and  by  acting  as  the  agent  of  the  Spanish  king 
in  maintaining  and  carrying  out  the  laws  relating  to  the 
Indies.  Its  jurisdiction  was  without  special  territorial 
limits  ; it  covered  all  matters  embraced  in  the  ordinances 


236  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  reached  all  persons  who  contravened  these  ordinances. 
All  cases  arising  from  theft  or  any  other  crime  committed 
on  the  voyage  to,  or  returning  from,  the  Indies — in  fact, 
all  cases  under  the  laws  of  the  Indies — fell  within  its 
exclusive  province.  But  in  certain  cases,  where  private 
persons  had  suffered  injury  on  the  voyage  from  other 
private  persons,  the  injured  party  might  demand  justice 
either  before  the  judges  of  the  Casa  or  before  an  ordinary 
court  of  Seville. 

In  these  two  organisations,  the  Council  of  the  Indies 
and  the  Casa  de  Contratacion  of  Seville,  we  discover  the 
two  special  agents  employed  by  the  king  in  carrying  out 
in  America  the  measures  of  an  essentially  absolute  rule, 
whether  they  concerned  the  political  or  the  economic 
affairs  of  his  possessions.  But  the  immediate  direction  of 
Spanish-American  affairs  was  entrusted  to  single  officers 
and  councils  residing  in  the  New  World.  Prominent 
among  these  were  the  governors,  the  audiencias,  the 
viceroys,  the  presidents,  the  captains-general,  and  the 
officers  of  the  municipalities.  With  whatever  authority 
they  were  clothed,  they  were  all  subordinate  to  the 
king  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  or  the  India 
House  ; and  under  whatever  titles  they  existed,  they 
were  all  designed  to  contribute  to  the  two  great  features 
of  Spanish  colonial  policy,  namely,  absolute  political 
control  and  monopolistic  privilege  in  industry  and 
trade. 

The  formation  of  a special  corporation  at  the  port  of 
Seville,  through  which  should  pass  the  affairs  of  the 
Indies,  was  one  of  the  first  practical  indications  that 
these  affairs  were  to  be  regarded  as  belonging  particularly 
to  the  Crown  and  not  to  the  civil  authorities  of  Spain.  In 
view  of  the  opposition  which  this  policy  aroused,  the 
king  ordered  the  “ supreme  magistrates  of  Seville  not  to 
intermeddle,  on  any  account,  with  what  concerned  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  India  House,  but  rather  diligently  to 
support  and  maintain  it  in  the  privileges  granted  by 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  237 

him.” 1 Similar  commands  were  issued  subsequently, 
and  they  were  accompanied  with  the  statement  that  he 
would  not  only  maintain  the  new  institution,  but  would 
add  to  its  authority  if  necessary.  Under  Philip  II,  its 
authority  was  in  fact  extended,  so  that  it  was  a repository 
not  only  for  the  treasures  brought  from  the  Indies,  but 
also  for  certain  revenues  raised  in  Andalusia.  Even  the 
fitting  out  of  the  great  Armada  of  1588  was  entrusted  to 
the  president  and  commissioners  of  the  India  House, 
acting  in  conjunction  with  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia. 
Their  power  increased  ; their  credit  rose  ; they  appointed 
officers  of  fleets  and  civil  magistrates  ; they  granted  passes 
to  ships  ; and  in  importance  and  dignity  they  stood  next 
to  the  royal  councillors.  They  enjoyed  the  same  privi- 
leges and  immunities  as  the  judges  of  chancery  and  of  the 
other  courts.  They  exercised  civil  and  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion in  all  cases  involving  the  owners  and  masters  of  ships, 
sailors,  factors,  and  merchants,  and  those  intercepting 
letters  or  instructions  relating  to  the  Indies.  They  took 
cognisance  of  all  crimes  committed  while  sailing  to,  or 
returning  from,  the  Indies,  and  in  these  cases  no  other 
judges  had  power  to  intermeddle  ; and,  according  to  a 
decree  of  1558,  the  same  method  of  procedure  was  fol- 
lowed as  in  the  royal  courts  of  Valladolid  and  Granada. 

Persons  violating  the  ordinances  of  the  India  House 
might  be  brought  from  any  part  of  the  Spanish  king’s 
dominions,  and  be  tried  by  this  body  in  its  judicial 
capacity  in  Seville.  As  a court  it  had,  moreover,  full 
jurisdiction  over  its  own  officers.  In  1655,  one  of  the 
accountants  killed  another  in  a street  in  Seville,  and  a 
contest  between  the  India  Plouse  and  the  city  as  to  the 
jurisdiction  in  this  case  was  decided  in  favour  of  the 
former  of  the  contestants.  Not  only  had  the  India 

1 Veitia  Linage,  7.  The  references  given  here  are  to  Norte  de  la 
Contratacion  de  las  Indias  Occidentales,  by  Don  Joseph  de  Veitia 
Linage,  “ made  English  ” by  Capt.  John  Stevens  under  the  title 
Spanish  Rule  of  Trade  to  the  West  Indies , 


23S  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

House  the  extensive  jurisdiction  here  indicated,  but  it 
was  also  subordinate  to  no  council  but  that  of  the  Indies. 
And  it  had  power  to  inflict  any  degree  of  punishment. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  ordinances, 
the  president,  “ appointed  to  reside  and  preside  in  the 
India  House,”  was  required  to  be  a “ person  of  note  and 
experience,”  “ well  versed  in  the  affairs  of  the  Indies,” 
having  knowledge  of  places,  of  the  history,  and  of  the 
voyage.  He  bore  the  title  of  Lordship,  and,  in  1628,  an 
order  of  the  council  of  war  decreed  that  the  president 
visiting  Cadiz  in  his  official  capacity  should  be  allowed  a 
guard  composed  of  an  officer  and  sixteen  men.  He  was 
so  careful  of  his  dignity  that  he  never  acted  jointly  with 
the  regent  of  Seville  on  any  public  occasion,  because  of 
difficulties  of  precedence,  and  in  making  visits  of  compli- 
ment he  was  attended  by  two  judges  or  commissioners,  and 
the  alguacilcs  were  accustomed  to  go  before  the  coach.1 

Among  the  duties  of  the  president,  one  of  the  most 
important  was  the  fitting  out  of  the  fleets  and  the  armadas. 
He  was,  moreover,  expected  to  supervise  the  embarka- 
tion of  passengers,  taking  special  care  that  none  should 
go  without  a licence,  and  that  licences  should  not  be  sold 
or  counterfeited.  The  general  ordinance  prohibiting  the 
officers  of  the  India  House  from  engaging,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  the  trade  with  America,  applied  to  the 
president  as  well  as  to  all  other  officers.  The  punish- 
ment of  any  president  found  guilty  of  violating  this 
ordinance  was  reserved  to  the  hands  of  the  king. 

After  the  president,  the  most  important  officers  were 
the  judges,  who  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  styled 
jueces  officiates,  a title  which  all  other  officers  belonging 
to  the  West  Indies  were  forbidden  to  assume.  For  a 
number  of  years  they  had  the  power  to  appoint  the  high 
officers  of  the  fleets,  but  after  the  creation  of  the  Council 
of  the  Indies  this  power  fell  into  the  hands  of  that  body. 
Yet  the  admirals  and  vice-admirals  continued  subor- 
1 Veitia  Linage,  19,  20. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  239 

dinate  to  the  judges  of  the  India  House  ; they  enjoyed 
supreme  authority  only  when  under  sail ; “ and  as  soon 
as  on  their  return  they  cast  anchor  in  any  port  of  Spain 
their  authority  ceases,  and  is  transferred  to  the  judge  or 
commissioner  who  goes  down  to  receive  or  clear  the  ships.” 1 

The  law  not  only  determined  the  order  of  business, 
but  also  prescribed  the  office  hours  of  the  members. 
They  were  required  to  be  on  duty  three  hours  in  the  fore- 
noon of  each  day,  from  seven  to  ten,  during  the  season 
from  Easter  to  the  end  of  September,  and  from  eight  to 
eleven  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  And  if  any  one  were 
absent  without  just  cause  it  was  provided  that  his  salary 
for  that  day  should  be  withheld.  The  rule  fixing  the 
hours  of  the  judges  was  not  always  observed,  for  “ when 
there  are  Armadas  or  Flotas  to  fit  out,  or  clear,  they  sit 
at  all  hours  and  times,  without  excepting  the  greatest 
holiday,  or  unseasonable  times  at  night ; so  that  as  no 
hours  are  exempt  from  business,  upon  extraordinary 
occasions,  when  there  is  no  business  they  do  not  sit  in 
the  afternoon.”  2 

No  judge  or  commissioner  was  permitted  to  be  absent 
without  leave.  At  first,  while  there  were  only  three 
judges,  leave  was  granted  by  the  king,  and  the  absent 
judge  was  obliged  to  secure  a deputy  ; but  later,  after 
the  number  of  officers  had  been  increased,  it  became  cus- 
tomary for  the  president  to  grant  such  leaves  of  absence 
as  were  not  for  more  than  thirty  days.3 

The  members  of  the  India  House  were  divided  into 
two  bodies,  called  the  chamber  of  direction  or  government, 
and  the  chamber  of  justice.  For  eighty  years,  or  until 
the  founding  of  the  chamber  of  justice,  in  1583,  the  whole 
business  of  the  institution  was  conducted  by  a single 
body.  During  the  first  fifty-four  years  of  this  period, 
this  body  was  composed  of  three  judges  ; and  during  the 
last  twenty-six  years,  of  three  judges  and  a president. 
After  the  creation  of  the  chamber  of  justice,  this  body 
1 Veitia  Linage,  26,  3 Ibid.,  27.  3 Ibid.,  28. 


24o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

took  cognisance  of  all  criminal  cases  ; but  cases  not  in- 
volving the  king’s  revenue.,  nor  specified  in  the  laws  and 
ordinances  of  this  court,  might  be  tried  before  this  or 
any  other  court,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  parties  concerned. 

The  chamber  of  justice,  as  established  in  1583,  con- 
sisted of  two  lawyers  who  were  called  judges,  but  were 
distinguished  from  the  jueces  officiates,  or  judges  by  office. 
A few  years  later,  in  1596,  a third  judge  was  added,  in 
order  to  avoid  a tie,  and  to  permit  all  cases  brought  before 
the  chamber  to  be  decided.  All  matters  of  law  and 
justice  were  determined  by  the  judges  who  were  lawyers. 
If  a case  were  originally  brought  up  in  the  chamber  of 
direction,  and  there  were  developed  in  the  course  of  its 
consideration  contests  belonging  to  a court  of  justice,  it 
was  immediately  turned  over  to  the  chamber  of  justice. 
In  this  court  suits  were  terminated  with  a hearing  or  a 
re-hearing,  but  cases  involving  more  than  600,000  mara- 
vedis,  or  1500  dollars,  might  be  appealed  to  the  Council 
of  the  Indies.  All  cases  involving  the  revenue,  or  duty 
for  convoys,  or  pay  due  from  the  king,  or  sums  in  charge 
of  the  House,  which  might  not  be  delivered  by  an  order 
of  a court  of  justice  alone,  could  not  be  taken  up  by  the 
chamber  of  justice  until  after  they  had  been  presented 
to  the  chamber  of  direction.  If  it  were  disputed  whether 
an  item  of  business  belonged  to  the  chamber  of  direction 
or  to  the  chamber  of  justice,  the  point  in  question  was  re- 
ferred to  the  president  and  one  judge  from  each  chamber. 
For  all  matters  not  covered  by  the  particular  laws  of  the 
India  House,  resort  was  had  to  the  general  laws  of  the 
kingdom. 

Besides  tl\e  officers  already  mentioned,  there  was  a 
fiscal,  or  solicitor,  who  has  been  described  as  “ the  king’s 
mouth  in  causes  wherein  he  is  concerned,  a check 
upon  those  that  manage  the  revenues,  a spy  upon 
those  who  embezzle  it,  an  informer  against  those  that 
defraud  it,  an  agent  to  improve  it,  and  lastly  a two-edged 
sword  in  a civil  and  criminal  capacity,  to  defend  the  patri- 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  241 

mony  of  the  Crown.”  This  office  was  first  established 
in  1546.  Before  this  time,  one  of  the  commissioners  had 
been  appointed  to  perform  its  duties.  He  was  required 
to  keep  a record  of  all  suits  managed  by  him  for  the  king, 
and  to  pass  it  on  to  his  successor.  His  duties,  in  fact, 
were  those  of  a prosecuting  attorney,  but  his  action  was 
limited  to  cases  concerning  the  king  or  his  revenue  ; and 
his  cases  took  precedence  of  all  others.  One  of  the  duties 
of  the  commissioners  was  to  go  to  the  port  and  despatch 
the  armadas  or  fleets,  and  also  to  receive  them  on  their 
return.  This  was  regarded  as  one  of  their  most  un- 
pleasant duties,  and  was  performed  in  turn,  beginning 
with  the  eldest.  An  extra  allowance  for  this  service  of 
six  ducats  a day  was  made  to  each  commissioner  per- 
forming it,  and  twelve  ducats  a day  to  the  president. 
This  duty  consisted  in  inspecting  the  ships,  determining 
whether  or  not  they  were  in  a proper  condition  to  be  sent 
to  sea.  If  repairs  were  needed,  the  extent  of  them  was 
determined,  and  they  were  ordered  to  be  made.  If  they 
were  overloaded,  a portion  of  the  freight  was  ordered  to 
be  removed  ; and  great  care  was  taken  that  no  goods 
should  be  put  on  the  vessels  after  they  had  been  cleared. 
To  prevent  this,  no  boats  except  those  properly  licensed 
were  permitted  to  go  over  the  bar  with  the  fleet.  The 
commissioners  clearing  the  vessels  were  required  to  send 
to  the  officers  of  the  king  at  the  ports  to  which  the  ships 
were  bound,  an  account  of  the  destination  of  the  ships, 
what  force  of  men  and  guns  they  carried,  what  freight, 
and  the  extent  of  their  provisions.  It  was  the  duty  of 
the  commissioners,  moreover,  to  prevent  the  shipment  of 
passengers  without  the  proper  licences  from  the  king  or 
council.  In  case  passengers  were  shipped  without  such 
licences,  a penalty  of  one  thousand  ducats  was  imposed 
upon  the  officer  under  whose  command  they  were  carried. 
The  commissioner  despatching  vessels  was  required,  more- 
over, to  see  that  the  ships  carried  a sufficient  amount  of 
provisions  and  fresh  water,  and  that  they  were  ready  to 
VOL.  I.  Q 


242  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

sail  at  the  proper  time.  Having  set  sail,  all  the  merchant 
ships  were  required  to  follow  the  admiral,  to  approach 
and  salute  him  every  day,  and  not  change  their  course 
without  his  leave,  “ on  pain  of  death  and  forfeiture 
of  goods.”  1 

No  vessels  were  admitted  to  the  fleet,  except  such  as 
had  been  built  in  the  Spanish  dominions  and  were  the 
property  of  Spanish  subjects.  They  must  also  be  of  at 
least  three  hundred  tons  burthen.  The  task  of  selecting 
them  was  committed  to  the  president  and  judges  of  the 
Casa  de  Contratacion,  under  the  obligation  to  report  to 
the  Council  of  the  Indies.  If  a ship  of  any  foreign  nation 
should  land  at  a port  of  the  Indies,  the  officers  of  the 
king  were  authorised  to  confiscate  it,  together  with  the 
goods  which  it  contained,  and  turn  the  whole  over  to  the 
royal  treasury,  the  informer  being  permitted  to  receive  one- 
fifth  of  the  total  value.  In  case  the  Spanish  ships  had 
been  licensed  to  sail  to  one  of  the  ports  with  which  trade 
was  established,  the  owners,  captains,  or  pilots  might 
not  change  their  destination,  and  all  were  required  to 
carry  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  including  at  least  two 
pieces  of  artillery.2 

All  persons  shipping  goods  to  the  Indies  were  obliged 
to  have  them  registered  in  the  Casa  de  Cortratacion,  under 
the  rule  that  everything  sent  without  being  registered 
should  be  turned  over  to  the  royal  treasury.  It  was 
required  in  like  manner  that  whatever  gold,  silver,  or 
merchandise  of  other  kinds  was  exported  from  the  Indies, 
should  be  registered  at  the  ports  from  which  it  proceeded. 
If  gold,  silver,  pearls,  precious  stones,  or  other  goods 
arrived  at  the  Spanish  port  of  entry  without  being 
registered  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law,  they  should 

1 Veitia  Linage,  45. 

2 Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  ix.,  tit.  xxx.,  leyes  1-39.  " Carta  del  Prior 

y Consules  de  Sevilla  proponiendo  varias  disposiciones  relativas  & 
la  ida  y vuelta  dc  las  flotas  & Indias  y modo  de  protegerlas  durante 
la  guerra  con  Francia”  (Doc.  inid.,  iii.  513).  Magnier,  Les  Flotles 
Espagnoles  des  Indes  aux  XV  I‘  et  XVII ' Siecles  (Paris,  1905). 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  243 


be  taken  possession  of  by  the  officers  of  the  Crown,  and 
turned  over  to  the  royal  treasury.1 

There  was  a general  prohibition  that  no  magistrate 
or  officer  of  justice  in  the  kingdom  of  Spain  should  inter- 
fere in  any  matter  falling  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
India  House  ; and  that  no  seaport  officers  should  go  on 
board  vessels  bound  to,  or  returning  from,  the  Indies. 
In  going  from  Seville  to  Cadiz  to  despatch  vessels,  the 
commissioner  took  with  him  one  of  the  clerks  and  a con- 
stable. He  made  the  journey  on  a barge  belonging  to  the 
India  House,  or  on  a vessel  hired  for  him  for  this  purpose. 

On  the  return  of  ships  from  the  Indies,  they  were 
received  by  some  judge,  or  commissioner,  of  the  Casa. 
This  duty,  like  the  duty  of  despatching  vessels,  devolved 
in  turn  upon  the  several  members  of  the  organisation. 
The  smaller  ships  were  received  in  Seville  near  the  Golden 
Tower.  Those  that  were  unable  to  ascend  to  this  point 
on  the  river  were  received  at  a place  called  Barego,  while 
those  that  came  in  fleets  were  always  received  in  the  port 
of  Bonanza. 2 In  1589,  it  was  ordered  that  no  one  but  a 
judge,  or  commissioner,  from  the  chamber  of  direction  of 
the  India  House  should  be  given  a commission  to  visit 
the  armadas  or  flotas.  The  thorough  inspection  involved 
in  the  commissioner’s  visit  appeared  to  be  necessary  in 
carrying  out  Spain’s  protective  policy.  It  involved 
mustering  the  men  to  see  if  those  who  had  left  Spain  had 
returned ; also  an  examination  to  determine  whether  the 
vessels  carried  the  guns  and  ammunition  which  under  the 
law  they  were  required  to  carry,  and  to  find  out  if  they 
had  observed  their  instructions  as  to  landings,  or  had 
brought  goods  not  properly  entered.  The  commissioner 
was  also  required  to  determine  “ whether  there  was  any 
blasphemous  person  aboard,  or  any  that  kept  a wench  ; 
or  whether  they  had  played  at  prohibited  games,  or 
committed  any  other  crimes.”  3 If,  on  inquiry,  the  com- 


1 Leyes  dc  Indias,  lib.  ix.,  tit.  xxxiii.,  leyes  i and  2. 

2 Veitia  Linage,  47.  3 Ibid.,  48. 


244  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

missioner  found  that  the  master  owed  the  sailors  any  part 
of  their  pay,  he  was  required  to  command  that  the  pay- 
ment be  made  within  three  days  ; and  if  this  command 
was  not  obeyed,  the  master  was  arrested  and  ordered  to 
pay  an  additional  sum  to  each  person  to  whom  he  was 
indebted  for  every  day  of  delay  in  making  payment.  If 
it  appeared,  from  the  oath  taken  by  the  master  and  the 
crew,  that  any  person  had  died  on  the  outward  or  return 
voyage,  an  account  and  an  immediate  delivery  of  his 
goods  were  demanded  ; and  if  the  goods  were  not  imme- 
diately delivered,  the  master  was  required  to  pay  the 
amount  of  their  value,  and  forfeit  to  the  king  double  this 
amount.  In  his  official  inspection,  the  commissioner  was 
required  to  find  out  whether  any  slaves  or  passengers  had 
been  admitted  on  board  the  vessels  without  leave,  and 
whether  any  Indians  had  been  brought  from  America. 
This  last  had  been  strictly  prohibited  under  penalty  of 
a large  pecuniary  fine,  perpetual  banishment  from  the 
West  Indies,  and  a payment  for  the  return  of  the  Indians 
to  the  province  or  island  from  which  they  had  been 
taken.  If  the  person  guilty  of  this  offence  was  unable  to 
meet  the  payment  for  the  return  transportation,  he  was 
condemned  to  suffer  a hundred  lashes.  In  case  persons 
belonging  to  the  ships  were  absent  at  the  time  of  inspec- 
tion, it  was  at  first  the  practice  to  have  them  brought 
before  the  president  and  the  court,  but  later  they  were 
brought  before  the  commissioner  at  the  port.  The  result 
of  this  leniency  was  that  often  a majority  of  the  men  were 
absent  from  the  muster,  and  this  led  to  the  imposition 
of  a small  fine  for  leaving  the  ship  before  the  inspection. 
Not  only  the  merchant  ships  but  also  the  men-of-war 
were  inspected  on  their  arrival,  with  the  view  of  deter- 
mining whether  they  had  complied  with  the  prescriptions 
of  the  law. 

It  was  incumbent  on  the  India  House  to  render  to 
the  Council  of  the  Indies  the  earliest  possible  information 
concerning  the  arrival  of  the  galleons  and  flotas.  In 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  245 

pursuit  of  this  purpose,  the  commissioner  at  the  port,  on 
the  first  intimation  of  the  approach  of  vessels,  sent  out 
a boat  to  bring  this  information,  which  he  at  once  de- 
spatched by  an  express  to  the  India  House,  however 
imperfect  it  might  be. 

As  soon  as  the  vessels  had  reached  the  port,  a second 
messenger  was  despatched  to  carry  to  the  India  House 
the  number  of  the  ships  and  a statement  of  the  treasure 
which  they  contained.  This  information  having  been 
received  by  the  president,  was  by  him  immediately  sent 
to  the  king.  The  process  of  unloading  the  vessels  was 
indicated  in  the  law  with  great  detail.  The  chests,  with 
letters  and  accounts,  were  conveyed  to  Seville  by  a special 
messenger  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

“ The  plate  is  unloaded  out  of  the  ships  into  great 
vessels  called  gavarras,  or  lighters,  that  of  each  galleon 
apart,  an  escrivano  certifying  the  bars,  chests,  or  other 
parcels  so  unloaded,  upon  which  every  boat  has  its  guide, 
and  a waiter  appointed  to  bring  it  up.  This  is  when  the 
ships  unload  in  the  port  of  Bonanza,  for  if  it  be  done  in 
Cadiz,  an  officer  with  some  soldiers  is  to  be  in  every  boat, 
the  whole  cargo  being  in  charge  of  the  admiral’s  captain, 
who  goes  in  one  of  the  said  boats,  and  the  ensign  or  ser- 
geant in  each  of  the  others,  with  such  number  of  soldiers 
as  the  admiral  shall  appoint.”  1 

In  the  first  phase  of  its  organisation  the  India  House 
comprised  three  judges  or  commissioners.  As  judges 
they  had  some  functions  in  common,  but  in  addition  to 
these  each  had  certain  peculiar  administrative  duties. 
One  commissioner  was  at  the  same  time  the  comptroller. 
He  kept  a detailed  account  of  all  sums  received  by  the 
treasurer,  and  of  all  bills  drawn  upon  these  sums.  He 
was  required  to  preserve  the  “ entries  of  ships  sailing  to, 
or  returning  from,  the  West  Indies,  upon  pain  of  paying 
the  damage  the  party  shall  sustain  whose  entry  is  lost.”  2 
1 Veitia  Linage,  52.  2 Ibid,,  56. 


246  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

For  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  his  office  he  was 
permitted  to  have  a certain  number  of  subordinate  officers 
and  clerks.  The  most  important  ol  these  was  a deputy 
comptroller,  who  took  charge  of  all  matters  belonging  to 
the  king’s  revenue.  In  case  the  comptroller  was  sick  or 
absent,  the  deputy  was  empowered  to  sign  for  him  and 
to  despatch  all  the  business  of  the  office.  In  appointing 
deputies  to  any  commissioner,  great  care  was  taken  to 
exclude  all  such  persons  as  were  in  any  way  concerned  in 
trade  in  the  West  Indies. 

Among  other  officers  subordinate  to  the  comptroller, 
there  was  one  who  took  charge  of  the  goods  of  deceased 
persons,  the  goods  of  persons  absent,  and  property  left  in 
trust.  This  officer,  whenever  the  occasion  arose  through 
illness  or  absence,  might  act  for  the  deputy  comptroller. 
Another  officer  was  charged  with  making  the  entries  of 
commodities  passing  through  the  India  House.  There 
was  still  another  officer  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  a book 
in  which  was  kept  a record  of  persons  departing  for  the 
Indies,  their  names,  places  of  birth,  and  the  names  of  their 
parents.  Another  officer  or  clerk  had  charge  of  the 
credits  and  the  uncoined  silver.  He  also  conducted  the 
correspondence  between  the  court  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  king  and  private  persons  on  the  other.  All  these 
officers  held  commissions  approved  of  by  the  chamber 
of  direction.  Such  other  clerks  might  be  employed  in 
the  comptroller’s  office  as  were  demanded  by  the  business 
in  hand. 

Some  idea  of  the  details  of  this  office  may  be  had  from 
a list  of  books  kept  in  the  regular  course  of  business.  They 
were  as  follows  : i.  Books  of  receipts  and  expenditure, 
in  which  were  entered 

“ all  the  charges,  in  a very  plain  and  distinct  method, 
mentioning  what  chest  the  sum  came  from,  what  hands 
it  has  gone  through,  whether  it  came  entire,  in  what  sort 
of  coin,  and  if  it  be  ingots  of  gold  or  silver,  in  what  shapes, 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  247 

upon  what  terms  it  was  sold,  mentioning  the  particular 
number  of  bars  or  other  pieces  of  gold  or  silver,  with  the 
numbers,  fineness,  and  weight,  and  whether  they  weighed 
the  same  as  they  did  in  the  Indies.”  1 

In  these  books  were  entered  also  orders  for  payments, 
and  these  orders  were  the  comptroller’s  receipts  for  his 
disbursements.  2.  Books  of  the  revenue  derived  by  the 
cruzada ,2  3.  Books  of  the  king’s  private  revenue.  These 

contained  accounts  of  the  sale  of  gold  and  silver  ingots, 
which  were  sold  at  the  treasury.  These  accounts  em- 
braced statements  of  the  number  and  weight  of  bars,  the 
persons  to  whom  they  were  sold,  and  the  dates  and  terms 
of  sale.  4.  Books  wherein  were  entered  all  the  commo- 
dities deposited  in  the  warehouses.  5.  Books  in  which 
were  recorded  all  the  resolutions  of  the  chamber  of  direc- 
tion. 6.  Books  of  the  dead,  in  which  a record  was  kept 
of  all  property  that  belonged  to  deceased  persons,  “ stating 
accounts  nicely  with  the  dead,  making  him  creditor  for 
all  that  is  brought  over  in  armadas  and  flotas,  and 
debtor  for  all  that  is  delivered  to  his  heirs,  executors,  and 
creditors.”3  7.  Books  in  which  were  entered  the  fines 
and  the  expenses  of  the  court.  8.  Books  of  passengers,  in 
which  were  entered  the  names,  birthplace,  and  parentage 
of  all  persons  going  to  the  Indies,  the  place  of  their  desti- 
nation, and  the  terms  of  their  licences.  9.  Books  of 
letters,  embracing  copies  of  all  letters  written  by  the  court. 
10.  Books  in  which  were  filed  copies  of  all  orders,  bills, 
informations,  and  certificates.  11.  Books  in  which  were 

1 Veitia  Linage,  58. 

2 Every  two  years  the  bull  of  the  cruzada  was  published  containing 

“ an  absolution  from  past  offences  by  the  pope,  and,  among  other 
immunities,  a permission  to  eat  several  kinds  of  prohibited  food  during 
Lent,  and  on  meagre  days.  . . . Every  person  in  the  Spanish  colonies 
of  European,  Creolian,  or  mixed  race,  purchases  a bull,  which  is  deemed 
essential  to  his  salvation,  at  the  rate  set  upon  it  by  government.” 
The  price  varied,  according  to  the  rank  of  the  purchaser,  from  two 
reales  to  sixteen  reales.  See  Robertson,  Works  (Edinburgh,  T819),  xi. 
120.  3 Veitia  Linage,  59. 


248  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

entered  or  filed  the  commissions  of  all  the  officers  of  the 
India  House.  12.  Books  in  which  were  filed  copies  of  all 
naturalisation  papers  that  had  been  issued  to  persons  to 
enable  them  to  participate  in  the  trade  with  the  West 
Indies.  13.  Books  in  which  were  charged  all  utensils  and 
goods  delivered  to  the  chief  pilot,  cosmographer,  and  other 
officers.  14.  Books  in  which  were  kept  accounts  of  the 
loading  of  all  ships. 

Another  commissioner  held  the  special  office  of 
treasurer,  and  whatever  money  was  received  from  the 
sale  of  gold,  silver,  pearls,  and  other  products  of  the  Indies 
was  committed  to  his  custody.  The  treasurer  and  the 
other  commissioners  were  required  to  give  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  thirty  thousand  ducats,  each,  and  the  treasurer, 
as  the  receiver  of  the  money  of  deceased  persons,  an  addi- 
tional bond  of  fifteen  thousand  ducats,  while  of  the  sub- 
treasurer there  was  required  a bond  of  ten  thousand  ducats. 
The  treasury  chamber  to  which  the  laws  make  frequent 
reference  was  a room  with  barred  windows  and  double 
doors.  Each  door  had  three  unlike  keys  which  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  commissioners. 

Payments  of  money  belonging  to  the  crown  were  made 
on  orders  issued  by  the  king, 

“ passed  by  the  councils  of  the  West  Indies  and  of  the 
Revenue,  in  such  manner  that  the  Council  of  the  Indies 
gives  an  order  for  the  gross  sum  ; and  then  that  of  the 
Revenue  grants  particular  warrants  to  those  who  are  to 
receive  it.  These  warrants  are  presented  in  the  chamber 
of  direction,  where  assignments  are  given  upon  the 
treasurer.”  1 

The  sums  belonging  to  deceased  persons,  which  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  treasurer,  were  very  great  during 
the  early  decades  of  Spanish  dominion  in  America,  and 
it  became  customary  to  make  loans  from  this  store.  In 
1633  the  king  had  borrowed  from  it  more  than  five  hun- 

1 Vcitia  Linage,  62. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  249 

dred  thousand  ducats,  and  all  the  pressure  that  could  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  was  inadequate  to  make  him 
restore  it.  It,  therefore,  happened  that  persons  holding 
valid  claims  against  this  fund  could  not  recover  what  was 
due  them,  because  the  fund  itself  had  been  exhausted 
by  loans  to  persons  who,  like  the  king,  either  could  not 
or  would  not  meet  their  obligations.  In  order  to  avoid 
complications  and  embarrassments  from  delayed  claims, 
steps  were  taken  to  ensure  that  the  most  efficient  means 
possible  should  be  taken  to  discover  the  heirs  in  all  cases  ; 
but  in  case  they  did  not  appear  or  were  not  discovered 
within  two  years  after  inquiry  for  them  had  been  insti- 
tuted, the  property  of  such  deceased  persons  should  be 
regarded  as  forfeited.  The  property  of  deceased  persons 
here  referred  to  included  not  only  that  of  persons  who  had 
died  in  the  Indies,  but  also  that  which  had  been  left  by 
passengers,  sailors,  and  others,  who  had  died  on  the  out- 
ward or  return  voyage.  For  managing  this  property 
the  treasurer,  by  a decree  of  1671,  was  granted  a fee  of 
one  per  cent,  of  all  that  came  into  his  hands. 

The  third  of  the  three  judges,  or  commissioners,  who 
at  first  constituted  this  court  of  trade,  held  in  addition 
to  his  office  of  commissioner,  the  special  office  of  factor, 
or  manager.  His  principal  function  was  to  purchase  on 
behalf  of  the  king,  or  the  king’s  officers,  commodities 
needed  for  the  king’s  service  in  America.  If  a governor, 
or  any  other  officer,  of  the  king’s  appointment  in  the 
Indies,  had  need  of  any  material  from  Spain  for  the  proper 
conduct  of  affairs  in  his  department  of  public  service,  he 
sent  to  the  factor  at  Seville  or  Cadiz,  who  purchased  the 
desired  articles  and  sent  them  to  him  by  the  ordinary 
means  of  communication.  The  factor,  moreover,  was 
charged  with  all  commodities  brought  from  the  Indies 
for  the  king,  or  brought  by  the  king’s  order  to  be  sent 
thither,  except  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones.  These 
were  consigned  to  the  treasurer.  Using  the  king’s  arsenal 
as  a storehouse  for  the  things  received,  the  factor  was 


25o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

accustomed  to  deliver  them  on  an  order  from  the  king, 
the  council,  or  the  chamber  of  direction.  The  actual 
care  of  the  commodities  was  confided  to  a deputy  of  the 
factor,  who  occupied  an  apartment  in  the  building  in 
which  they  were  kept.  Although  the  king’s  gold  and  silver 
were  in  the  custody  of  the  treasurer,  yet  if  any  of  it  was 
to  be  melted  down  at  the  mint,  the  supervision  of  this  work 
devolved  upon  the  factor.  And  he  had,  moreover,  the 
control  of  the  funds  advanced  by  the  king  for  carrying 
the  ecclesiastics  to  the  Indies,  and  furnishing  them  those 
things  which  they  might  need,  and  to  which  they  were 
entitled  under  the  law. 

One  of  the  important  articles  of  trade  between  Spain 
and  the  Indies  was  quicksilver,  which  was  extensively 
used  in  the  production  of  silver.  The  trade  in  this 
particular  commodity  was  monopolised  by  the  king,  and 
no  other  person  might  engage  in  it,  under  penalty  of  death 
and  forfeiture  of  property.  It  having  been  found  that  the 
mine  of  Almaden  did  not  produce  enough  to  supply  the 
demand  of  New  Spain,  it  was  determined  to  make  up  the 
deficiency  from  the  mines  of  Peru.  For  three  or  four 
years,  therefore,  quicksilver  was  carried  from  Peru  to 
New  Spain,  and,  as  a part  of  this  transaction,  goods  of 
various  kinds  were  carried  from  New  Spain  to  Peru,  thus 
violating  the  law  prohibiting  trade  between  these  two 
countries.  Although  this  trade  may  have  been  mutually 
advantageous  to  the  two  colonial  kingdoms  immediately 
concerned,  it  was  nevertheless  regarded  by  the  king  as 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  Spain,  and  was  consequently 
suppressed.  The  subsequent  failure  of  the  Peruvian  mines 
caused  the  Indies  for  a certain  time  to  be  supplied  entirely 
from  Europe,  principally  from  Germany  and  the  mine  of 
Almaden.  Whatever  part  was  sent  from  Spain  passed 
through  Seville,  and  was  prepared  for  shipment  under  the 
care  of  the  factor  or  manager  of  the  India  House. 

For  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  years  the  organisa- 
tion known  as  the  India  House  consisted  of  three  commis- 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  251 

sioners  who,  as  already  indicated,  filled  the  several  offices 
of  comptroller,  factor,  and  treasurer.  In  1625,  Philip  IV 
added  the  Duke  of  Olivares  to  the  list  of  commissioners, 
at  the  same  time  conferring  upon  him  the  office  of  chief 
alguacil,  which  was  made  hereditary  to  the  immediate 
heirs  of  his  family.  The  list  of  judges  or  commissioners 
was  also  increased  by  the  creation  of  the  office  of  chief 
alcalde,  or  keeper,  which  was  conferred  upon  the  Count  of 
Castrillo,  and  made  hereditary  to  his  heirs  forever.  It 
devolved  upon  him,  among  his  other  functions,  to  appoint 
the  doorkeepers  of  both  the  chamber  of  justice  and  the 
chamber  of  direction,  and  their  assistants,  the  doorkeepers 
of  the  office  for  convoy  money,  the  porter  at  the  gate,  the 
keepers  of  the  treasury  chamber,  and  certain  other  officers 
of  the  custom-house  and  port,  all  of  whom  had  previously 
been  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  Council  of  the 
Indies. 

The  historical  significance  of  the  organisation  known 
as  the  Casa  de  Contratacion  lay  in  the  fact  that  for  a long 
time  it  held  the  key  to  the  New  World,  and  was  the  efficient 
agent  of  the  Spanish  king  in  carrying  out  the  most  rigid 
system  of  commercial  restriction  that  was  ever  framed. 
It  continued  to  have  its  seat  at  Seville  till  1717,  when  it 
was  transferred  to  Cadiz  for  greater  convenience  in  super- 
intending the  shipping  to  America,  the  bulk  of  which  at 
this  time  went  from,  and  was  received  at,  that  port.  After 
the  removal  to  Cadiz,  an  agent  of  the  India  House  con- 
tinued to  reside  in  Seville,  as,  while  the  offices  were  in 
Seville,  there  had  been  an  agent  in  Cadiz.  The  actual 
transfer  of  the  offices  to  Cadiz,  in  accordance  with  the 
decree  of  1717,  was  made  in  1718.1 

The  attitude  of  Spain  towards  trade  and  traders  was 
such  as  to  furnish  a positive  hindrance  to  commercial 
developments  ; and  in  the  course  of  time  the  Spaniards 
had  to  lament  that,  through  their  failure  to  honour  and 

1 Antunez,  Legislation  y Gobierno  del  Comercio  de  los  Espanoles 
eon  sus  Colonias  en  las  Indias  Occidentales,  io. 


252  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

encourage  merchants,  most  of  their  trade  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  foreigners.  In  view  of  the  tendency  towards 
this  result,  certain  special  privileges  were  extended  to 
Spanish  merchants  trading  with  the  Indies.  Among  these 
privileges  may  be  noted  that  of  deferring  payments  to 
creditors  in  case  of  misfortune  causing  considerable  loss. 
Any  person  who  had  been  granted  this  privilege  through 
letters  of  licence,  was  accustomed  to  pay  five  per  cent,  per 
annum  on  the  amounts  of  the  payments  deferred. 

It  was  one  of  the  rules  of  transportation  that  goods 
must  be  landed  at  the  port  to  which  they  were  consigned, 
and  if  they  were  permitted  to  be  sent  to  adjacent  ports, 
it  was  required  that  they  should  be  sent  thither  in  other 
vessels  than  those  which  carried  them  from  Spain. 
Goods  brought  from  the  Indies  consigned  to  the  king  were 
always  introduced  into  Spain  free  of  duty.  Provisions 
and  other  commodities  sent  for  the  use  of  the  soldiers  in 
the  garrison  in  Florida  also  paid  no  duty.  After  import 
duties  had  been  removed,  it  was  customary  to  allow  goods 
for  use  in  Spain  to  be  taken  from  the  ships  wherever  they 
might  come  to  anchor,  but  goods  imported  for  re-exporta- 
tion had  to  be  brought  to  Seville  that  arrangements  might 
there  be  made  for  the  duty  of  exportation.  In  the  later 
times  the  duties  were  so  exorbitant  that  the  officers  did 
not  pretend  to  collect  the  full  amount.  It  appeared  from 
experience  that  by  this  means  the  maximum  revenue 
would  accrue  to  the  State,  because  of  the  extraordinary 
efforts  that  were  made  to  escape  payment  altogether  when 
the  full  duty  was  demanded. 

Important  among  the  burdens  imposed  upon  the  com- 
modities involved  in  the  trade  between  Spain  and  the 
Indies  was  the  haberia,  or  duty  levied  on  the  goods  carried, 
in  order  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  convoy.  It  was  first 
imposed  in  1543,  and  was  then  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one 
half  per  cent.,  and  in  1587  it  was  raised  to  seven  per  cent. 
After  the  sea  had  become  somewhat  more  safe  by  the  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  between  England  and  Spain,  the  rate 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  253 

of  convoy  duty  fell  to  six  per  cent.,  but  it  appears  to  have 
risen  again  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  ; 
for,  by  a decree  of  Philip  IV,  dated  1644,  it  was  ordered 
that  this  duty  should  not  exceed  twelve  per  cent.  All 
commodities  whatsoever  carried  to,  or  brought  from,  the 
Indies,  not  excepting  those  belonging  to  the  king  himself, 
were  required  to  pay  this  duty.  No  goods  were  delivered 
until  the  duty  for  convoy  had  been  paid,  and  this  was 
exacted,  although  the  goods  had  on  another  account  been 
forfeited.  Yet  silver  and  commodities  consigned  for  the 
holy  places  at  Jerusalem  and  for  the  redemption  of  cap- 
tives were  exempt  from  this  duty.  The  collecting  and 
accounting  for  this  duty  was  at  one  time  entrusted  to 
the  commissioners  of  the  India  House  ; but  after  1572 
it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a special  commission  of  five 
persons,  who  sat  in  a chamber  of  the  India  House,  which 
had  been  appointed  for  their  use. 

Besides  the  functionaries  already  mentioned,  there 
was  also  a proveedor,  or  commissary-general,  whose  duty 
it  was  “ to  order  all  payments  for  provisions  bought,”  and 
to  see  that  no  more  provisions  and  stores  were  taken  on 
board  than  were  needed  for  use.  This  officer  was  subor- 
dinate to  the  president  and  commissioners  of  the  India 
House,  and  all  agreements  which  he  might  make  required 
their  approval  in  order  to  be  valid.  He  was  permitted 
to  employ  four  agents,  or  under-commissaries,  and  was 
reqiiired  to  render  an  account  of  all  provisions  turned  over 
by  him  to  the  officers  of  the  ships  taking  charge  of 
them.  Such  provisions  were  free  from  all  duties.  The 
proveedor  might  appoint  a deputy  to  act  in  his  absence, 
and  also  two  clerks,  when  the  amount  of  the  business 
demanded  it. 

Among  the  other  persons  employed  in  connection  with 
the  shipping  to  America,  mention  may  be  made  of  the 
superintendent  of  the  workmen  engaged  in  the  shipyards. 
He  was  expected  to  examine  the  ships  needing  repairs, 
and  to  oversee  the  work  of  repairing,  preventing  waste 


254  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

through  dishonest  work  or  the  stealing  of  material.  The 
master  carpenters  and  master  calkers  were  appointed  by 
the  king,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  commissioners 
of  the  India  House.  They  were  paid  by  the  day  whenever 
they  had  work.  There  was  also  a storekeeper  who  had 
charge  of  all  provisions  and  material  for  fitting  out  ships, 
and  who  delivered  them  as  they  were  needed,  “ from  the 
time  the  ships  began  to  be  fitted  till  they  sailed.”  During 
part  of  the  colonial  period  there  were  two  of  these  officers, 
and  at  other  times  three. 

The  visitors  of  ships  were  important  officers  of  the 
India  House.  They  have  been  described  as  next  to  the 
commissioners  in  dignity.  They  were  required  to  be 
“ expert  and  skilful  ” in  fitting  out  ships,  to  inspect  them, 
and  to  determine  the  number  of  men  and  the  amount  of 
stores  and  ammunition  that  should  be  put  on  board  of 
each.  Before  leaving  for  the  Indies  each  ship  was  re- 
quired to  have  a licence  from  the  president  and  commis- 
sioners of  the  India  House,  and  to  have  been  examined 
either  by  the  president  and  commissioners  themselves  or 
by  the  visitor.  The  ship  was  examined  before  it  was 
loaded,  in  order  that  it  might  be  seen  if  it  were  seaworthy 
in  all  respects  and  well  ballasted.  In  addition  to  these 
precautions,  it  was  provided,  in  1609,  that  no  ship  under 
two  hundred  tons  burthen  should  be  admitted  to  the 
convoyed  fleet.  It  was  customary  to  have  every  ship 
visited  three  times.  “ The  first  visit  was  for  the  visitor 
to  appoint  how  the  vessel  was  to  be  fitted  ; the  second, 
to  see  whether  all  had  been  performed  that  had  been 
ordered  ; and  the  third,  to  clear  it  for  sailing.”  1 The 
third  visit  was  that  already  referred  to  as  made  by  the 
president  or  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  India  House. 
He  was  accompanied  by  a visitor,  who  was  to  see  that 
the  ships  were  not  overloaded,  that  no  freight  was  carried 
on  deck,  that  a sufficient  amount  of  provisions  had  been 
taken  on  board,  that  the  vessels  carried  the  requisite 
1 Veitia  Linage,  98. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  255 

amount  of  arms  and  no  more,  and  that  they  had  on  board 
no  unlicensed  passengers  or  wares  not  properly  entered. 
At  the  sailing  of  a vessel,  the  business  of  the  visitor  with 
reference  to  it  was  ended,  for  on  the  return  of  the  ships 
the  visitor  had  nothing  to  do  with  them.1  In  addition 
to  these  officers,  there  was  a large  number  of  clerks  and 
other  subordinates,  who  had  in  hand  the  mass  of  details 
relating  to  the  trade  between  Spain  and  America. 

Concerning  emigration  to  the  West  Indies,  it  was 
provided,  in  1511,  that  any  subject  of  Spain,  on  properly 
entering  his  name,  might  be  allowed  to  go  to  the  Indies. 
But  later,  in  1518,  in  1522,  in  1530,  and  in  1539,  orders 
were  passed  involving  restrictions,  in  accordance  with 
which  the  bar  of  exclusion  was  raised  against  all  persons 
newly  converted  from  Judaism  or  Mohammedanism  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  against  the  children  of  such  persons,  or 
the  children  and  grandchildren  of  persons  who  had  worn 
the  Saint  Andrew’s  cross  of  the  Inquisition,  and  against 
the  descendants  of  any  person  who  had  been  burnt  or 
condemned  for  heresy.  Any  person  violating  these  pro- 
visions was  liable  to  forfeiture  of  property,  a hundred 
lashes,  and  perpetual  banishment  from  the  Indies.  To 
prevent  violations  of  the  restrictive  laws  concerning 
emigration,  it  was  provided  by  a royal  order  for  1552, 

“ that  for  the  future,  the  judges  or  commissioners  of  the 
India  House  should  not  suffer  any  person  whatsoever, 
though  of  such  as  were  allowed,  or  though  he  had  the  king’s 
letters  of  licence,  to  go  over  to  the  Indies,  unless  they 
brought  certificates  from  the  places  where  they  were  born, 
to  make  appear  whether  they  were  married,  or  single,  de- 
scribing their  persons,  setting  down  their  age,  and  declar- 
ing that  they  were  neither  Jews  nor  Moors,  nor  children 
of  such,  nor  persons  newly  reconciled,  nor  sons  or  grand- 
sons of  any  that  have  been  punished,  condemned,  or  burnt 
as  heretics,  or  for  heretical  crimes  ; such  certificates  to  be 
1 Veitia  Linage,  99. 


256  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

signed  by  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  town,  or  place  where 
such  persons  were  born.”  1 

A few  years  later,  in  1559,  the  prelates  in  the  Indies 
were  instructed  “ to  inquire  whether  there  were  any  Jews, 
Moors,  or  heretics  in  those  parts,  and  to  punish  them 
severely.”  And  in  1566,  all  the  sons  and  grandsons 
of  heretics  were  excluded  from  offices  or  places  of 
trust. 

All  magistrates,  captains,  pilots,  masters,  mates,  or 
other  persons,  aiding  in  the  violation  of  these  restrictions 
on  emigration  were  subject  to  a great  variety  of  penalties, 
fines,  lashes,  banishment,  imprisonment,  and  transporta- 
tion to  Spain,  which  were  increased  to  such  an  extent  that 
in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  decreed 
that  passengers  who  should  go  to  the  Indies  without  the 
proper  leave,  “ should  be  sent  to  the  galleys  for  four  years, 
or,  if  they  were  persons  of  quality,  to  Oran  for  ten  years.” 
This  penalty  should  also  be  imposed  on  masters  of  ships, 
and  in  addition  a fine  of  one  thousand  silver  ducats.  In 
1607,  it  was  provided  that  any  sea  officer  carrying  passen- 
gers to  the  Indies  without  leave  should  be  punished  with 
death.  But  in  the  course  of  time  the  extreme  rigour  of 
the  law  was  abated  in  favour  of  a pecuniary  fine.  Yet 
the  severer  measures  continued  to  have  supporters,  since 
the  removal  of  restrictions  caused  the  countries  to  be 
overrun  with  pedlars,  who  cut  off  more  or  less  of  the 
trade  of  the  established  merchants. 

The  president  and  commissioners  of  the  India  House, 
without  reference  to  the  king,  might  grant  leave  to  go  to 
the  Indies,  to  mestizos,  who  had  been  brought  to  Spain  ; 
to  merchants,  even  such  as  were  married,  provided  they 
had  permission  from  their  wives,  and  left  a thousand  ducats 
as  a guarantee  that  they  would  return  within  three  years  ; 
to  agents  of  merchants  in  the  Indies,  but  only  for  three 
years  ; and  to  inhabitants  of  the  Indies,  who  were  known 
1 Veitia  Linage,  108. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  257 

to  have  wives  there.  Any  other  person  required  a licence 
from  the  king. 

When  the  question  arose  as  to  what  persons  should  be 
regarded  as  merchants,  the  title  was  interpreted  so  as 
to  include  anyone  who  had  shipped  goods  rated  for  the 
payment  of  duties  at  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  or 
more.  Married  women  whose  husbands  were  living  in 
the  Indies  might  go  to  them  and  be  accompanied  by  a 
kinsman  within  the  fourth  degree  of  consanguinity  ; but 
if  the  husband  went  to  Spain  for  his  wife,  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  return  without  a licence  from  the  king.  And 
the  privilege  of  going  to  the  Indies  was  strictly  withheld 
from  all  single  women. 

Although  the  president  and  commissioners  of  the 
India  House  might  permit  merchants  to  go  to  the  Indies 
without  their  wives  for  a period  of  three  years,  provided 
they  had  the  wives’  consent,  and  left  a guarantee  of  one 
thousand  ducats,  yet  no  other  married  man,  not  even  a 
governor  or  other  officer  of  State,  was  allowed  to  go  with- 
out his  wife,  except  under  an  express  dispensation  from  the 
king.  And  without  this  dispensation,  the  wife  of  the 
highest  officer  as  well  as  the  wife  of  the  ordinary  man 
was  required  to  bring  the  same  proofs  of  identity  that 
were  required  of  the  men. 

How  rigid  was  the  restriction  imposed  on  emigration 
may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  although  one  held  a com- 
mission for  employment  in  the  Indies,  and  even  a pass 
from  the  king,  he  was  not  permitted  to  sail  without  a 
licence  from  the  India  House.  It  was  not,  however,  to 
be  expected  that  all  persons  would  bring  their  certificates 
of  qualification  in  the  exact  form  required  by  the  law ; and 
when  there  were  deficiencies  in  the  papers  presented,  such 
deficiencies  were  sometimes  supplied  by  information 
gathered  by  the  officers  of  the  India  House  ; and  some- 
times, in  order  to  avoid  the  great  inconvenience  that  might 
be  caused  by  delay,  a pass  or  licence  was  issued  on  the 
receipt  of  satisfactory  security  that  certificates  in  due 

VOL.  1.  R 


258  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

form  would  be  subsequently  forwarded  from  the  proper 
sources. 

The  rules  governing  the  passengers  on  the  voyage 
required  that  they  should  carry  their  own  provisions, 
and  the  masters  of  ships  were  prohibited  from  under- 
taking to  furnish  them  food.  The  passengers  were,  more- 
over, required  to  swear  that  they  would  not  remain  at  any 
port  at  which  they  might  stop  on  the  way  to  their  proper 
destination,  and  that  they  would  not  carry  their  goods 
ashore  before  they  had  been  examined.  If  one  carried  a 
licence  to  reside  at  a specified  town  in  the  Indies,  he  was  ex- 
pected to  reside  there  ; and  if  one  pretended  to  be  going 
to  the  Indies  to  exercise  a certain  handicraft,  he  was 
obliged  to  follow  it.1  And  there  were  rules  prohibiting 
persons  from  going  from  one  province  to  another  with- 
out leave  from  the  king.  Similar  restrictions  were  im- 
posed upon  persons  going  from  the  Indies  to  Spain.  They 
might  not  leave  without  permission  “ from  the  viceroys, 
presidents,  or  governors  of  the  places  of  their  habitation.” 
And  the  governors  of  seaports  were  prohibited  from  grant- 
ing leave  to  any  person  residing  in  their  jurisdiction,  except 
on  the  presentation  of  a licence  from  the  civil  officer  within 
whose  jurisdiction  he  lived. 

By  an  ordinance  of  1560,  it  was  provided  that  persons 
going  to  the  Indies  without  licence  should  forfeit  to  the 
Crown  all  property  acquired  there,  with  the  exception  of 
one-fifth  part  which  should  go  to  the  informer  ; and  they 
should,  moreover,  be  arrested  and  sent  as  prisoners  to 
Spain  at  their  own  expense.  Neither  they  nor  their  heirs 
might  receive  goods  sent  to  them  ; and  in  accordance  with 
a bull  issued  by  Alexander  VI,  they  were  declared  to  be 
excommunicated. 

If  the  royal  ordinances  which  touch  on  the  ecclesiastical 
affairs  of  America  indicate  the  will  of  the  Spanish  kings  in 
this  matter,  the  kings  were  moved  by  a strong  desire  to 
promote  the  religious  welfare  of  the  Indians.  Presuppos- 

1 Veitia  Linage,  113. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  259 

ing  this  desire,  the  restrictions  which  were  placed  on  the 
emigration  of  friars  and  priests  appear  as  means  for  pre- 
venting any  but  those  of  virtuous  and  exemplary  lives  from 
going  to  the  Indies.  These  restrictions  were  carried  out 
through  orders  to  the  commissioners  of  the  India  House 
not  to  allow  the  friars  of  any  order  to  go  without  a licence. 
Persons  attempting  to  avoid  this  provision  were  seized 
and  sent  back  to  Spain.  As  early  as  1530,  an  order  was 
issued  to  the  commissioners  of  the  India  House,  requiring 
them  not  to  permit  foreign  friars  to  go  to  the  Indies,  even 
if  they  had  leave  from  their  superiors.  This  prohibition 
was  confirmed  by  later  ordinances,  under  which  it  was 
required  that  all  applications  by  ecclesiastics  for  passes 
should  be  referred  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies.  In  1664 
the  privilege  of  entering  upon  missionary  work  in  the 
Indies  was  granted  to  Jesuits  under  certain  restrictions. 
The  members  of  the  religious  orders  who  went  to  America 
under  these  conditions  went  at  the  king’s  expense  ; but 
they  were  obliged  to  restore  to  him  the  amount  of  his 
outlay  in  case  they  returned  to  Spain  without  leave.  In 
the  course  of  time,  by  reason  of  the  rise  of  prices,  the  allow- 
ance which  had  been  granted  in  the  beginning  for  these 
expenses  was  found  to  be  quite  inadequate,  and  whatever 
further  amount  was  needed  by  the  friars  was  made  up  by 
the  orders  to  which  they  belonged. 

Friars  of  the  orders  of  Carmelites  who  went  shod  were 
specially  prohibited  from  going  to  the  Indies,  but  this 
prohibition  did  not  stand  against  the  barefooted  friars  of 
this  order.  After  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  prohibition  was  made  to  apply  to  all  orders 
which  had  not  already  established  monasteries  in  America. 
By  an  act  of  the  council  it  was  provided,  in  1665,  that  no 
friar  having  returned  from  America  to  Spain  would  be 
allowed  to  go  back,  even  though  he  had  a licence,  unless, 
on  his  arrival  in  Spain,  he  had  reported  to  the  council 
the  cause  of  his  return.  The  long  list  of  ordinances 
limiting  the  movements  and  general  activity  of  the  mem- 


2 6o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


bers  of  the  religious  orders  indicates  to  what  marvellous 
lengths  and  into  what  minute  details  Spain’s  restrictive 
system  extended. 

In  keeping  with  the  restrictive  policy  of  the  Spaniards, 
all  foreigners  were  forbidden  to  trade  with  the  Indies, 
without  a special  licence  from  the  king ; and,  having 
obtained  such  licence,  they  were  limited  to  dealing  in 
their  own  wares,  and  might  not,  even  if  naturalised,  be- 
come owners  or  masters  of  ships.  By  foreigners  were 
meant  all  persons  not  born  in  the  kingdo'ms  of  Castile, 
Leon,  or  Aragon.  Later  the  territory,  to  be  born  in 
which  constituted  one  a native  in  the  meaning  of  the  law, 
was  extended  so  as  to  include  Navarre,  Valencia,  and 
Catalonia.  The  class  of  persons  known  in  Spain  as 
natives  was  further  extended  by  the  decree  of  1562,  and 
made  to  embrace  such  foreigners  as  had  been  settled 
householders  in  Spain  for  ten  years,  and  had  married  a 
Spanish  or  an  Indian  woman.  But  residence,  even  for 
more  than  ten  years,  did  not  confer  this  privilege  on 
bachelors.  In  1608  the  line  was  drawn  more  strictly. 
Twenty  years  of  residence,  including  ten  as  a householder, 
were  required  ; also  marriage  with  a native  or  with  a 
daughter  of  a foreigner  bom  under  Spanish  dominion. 

In  order  to  avoid  the  effect  of  these  provisions, 
foreigners  who  were  not  competent  to  trade  with  the  Indies 
sold  their  commodities  to  subjects  and  natives  of  these 
kingdoms,  to  be  paid  for  them  in  the  Indies,  by  which 
means  the  gold  and  plate,  brought  from  those  parts,  was 
carried  to  other  countries,  and  that  very  often,  before 
it  came  into  Spain.1 

This  practice  led  to  the  passage  of  special  ordinances 
prohibiting  it.  These  were  confirmed  at  different  times, 
and  death  and  forfeiture  of  goods  fixed  as  penalties  for 
their  violation.  An  attempt  was,  moreover,  made  to 
prevent  foreigners  from  trading  in  the  Indies  by  ordering 
that  persons  residing  there  should  not  purchase  commodi- 
1 Veitia  Linage,  127. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  INDIES  261 


ties  of  foreigners,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  half  their  property 
and  of  being  returned  to  Spain  as  prisoners.  By  a later 
law,  foreigners  were  forbidden  to  reside  in  the  Indies,  and 
those  already  there  were  expelled  ; yet  in  the  course  of 
time  the  harshness  of  this  law  of  expulsion  was  toned  down 
by  lax  execution.  In  spite  of  the  severe  measures  taken 
against  foreigners  attempting  to  trade  with  the  Indies, 
or  to  reside  there,  it  was  decreed  that  foreigners  residing 
in  Seville  and  at  adjacent  ports,  although  they  might  not 
engage  in  the  India  trade,  should  nevertheless  be  obliged 
to  contribute  to  the  fitting  out  of  armadas  and  fleets,  and 
to  all  other  expenses  borne  by  the  Spaniards. 

The  intimate  relation  between  the  king  and  his  Ameri- 
can dominions  necessitated  a regular  organised  system  of 
postal  communication.  As  early  as  1514,  by  a royal 
warrant,  Dr.  Galindez  de  Carvajal  was  made  postmaster 
of  the  Indies,  and  by  a subsequent  order  of  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  issued  in  1524,  all  persons  were  restrained  from 
interfering  with  him  in  the  despatch  of  messages  concerning 
the  affairs  of  the  Indies.  The  lines  of  this  service  covered 
the  distance  between  Seville  and  the  other  ports,  and 
Madrid,  as  well  as  the  distances  between  Spain  and 
America.  The  postmaster  of  the  Indies  was  an  officer  of 
the  India  House.  His  duties  were  “to' receive  all  des- 
patches sent  by  the  president,  commissioners,  or  other 
officers,  or  by  the  prior  and  consuls,  and  other  persons 
trading  to  the  Indies.”  He  provided  means  for  sending 
messages  to  the  court  and  to  the  various  ports,  by  keeping 
post-horses  at  certain  stations.  The  service  was  rendered 
by  persons  appointed  by  the  postmaster,  who  were  pro- 
hibited from  making  any  charges  above  the  rates  fixed 
by  law.  The  customary  speed  at  which  messages  were 
transmitted  under  this  system  was  thirty  leagues  a day. 
Rigorous  laws  enjoined  all  persons  from  intercepting  and 
opening  letters  and  packets.  Of  the  amount  paid  for  this 
service  the  postmaster  was  allowed  one-tenth  part. 

The  laws  and  ordinances  contain  abundant  details 


262  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


concerning  the  organisation  and  control  of  the  royal  navy 
and  fleets  of  merchant  ships  engaged  in  furthering  the 
India  trade.  The  admiral,  or  captain-general,  held  the 
chief  command,  and  while  on  the  sea  was  clothed  with 
power  which  was  essentially  absolute  ; yet  he  was  under 
oath  “ that  he  would  not  avoid  death  in  defence  of  the 
faith,  of  his  master’s  honour  and  right,  and  of  the  public 
good  of  the  kingdom.”  The  admirals  and  other  officers, 
before  beginning  to  exercise  the  functions  of  their  offices, 
were  obliged  to  present  their  commissions  and  instructions 
to  the  officers  of  the  India  House,  and  to  furnish  the  re- 
quired security  that  they  would  faithfully  perform  the 
duties  of  their  offices,  or  meet  whatsoever  fines  might  be 
imposed  upon  them.  The  amount  of  the  security  de- 
manded varied  according  to  the  dignity  of  the  office, 
ranging  from  three  hundred  ducats,  in  the  case  of  the 
physician,  to  five  thousand  ducats,  in  the  case  of  the 
admiral. 

After  having  crossed  the  bar  of  San  Lucar,  the  admiral’s 
vessel  took  the  lead,  the  other  vessels  followed,  the  ship 
of  the  vice-admiral  held  her  position  in  the  rear,  and  the 
other  men-of-war  kept  to  the  windward  of  the  merchant 
vessels.  If  any  ship  strayed  from  the  fleet,  a fine  was 
imposed  upon  certain  of  her  officers,  and  they  were  ex- 
cluded for  a series  of  years  from  making  this  voyage  ; but 
if  a ship  was  wilfully  taken  from  the  fleet,  the  guilty  officers 
suffered  death  and  forfeiture  of  property.  After  putting 
to  sea,  the  admiral  or  vice-admiral  examined  all  the  ships. 
If  goods  were  found  that  had  not  been  properly  entered 
they  were  confiscated  ; and  if  passengers  were  found 
without  a licence  they  were  set  on  shore  at  the  Canaries 
and  sent  back  to  the  prison  of  the  India  House. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY 
I.  The  audiencia.  II.  The  viceroy. 


I 

During  the  process  of  exploration  and  settlement, 
authority  in  America  rested  in  the  hands  of  leaders  of 
expeditions  and  colonies,  who  usually  bore  the  title  of 
adelantado.1  This  was  the  title  formerly  applied  in  Spain 
to  the  military  and  political  governor  of  a frontier  pro- 
vince. Standing  face  to  face  with  the  Moors,  he  held  the 
general  military  command  of  the  province,  and  had  power 
to  gather  the  people  under  his  standard.  In  his  capacity 
as  a civil  officer,  he  took  cognisance  of  such  civil  and  cri- 
minal cases  as  arose  within  the  limits  of  his  territory.2 
When  Spain  found  herself  extending  her  Christian  do- 
minion over  regions  that  had  been  held  by  the  American 
infidels,  it  was  natural  for  her  to  apply  to  the  leaders  in 
this  undertaking  the  title  which  the  champions  of  Christian 
Spain  had  borne  during  the  long  contest  with  the  Moham- 
medans. This  title  was  borne  by  Columbus,  and  by  most, 
if  not  all,  of  those  who  founded  colonies  in  districts  not 
hitherto  occupied  by  Spanish  authority. 

1 Santamaria  de  Paredes,  in  Derecho  politico,  p.  487,  has  described 
the  adelantados  as  “ governors  of  great  territories  with  a character 
chiefly  military.”  The  military  officers  under  the  adelantado  were 
maestro  de  campo,  sargento-mayor,  and  alferez  real.  “ In  Spain  the 
military  governors  of  the  provinces  on  the  frontier  of  the  Moors  bore 
the  title  of  adelantado,  and  from  these  it  came  to  be  applied  with 
propriety  to  the  discoverers  of  America,  whose  mission  was  always 
to  adelantar,  or  advance,  the  conquest  ” (Makenna,  Historia  de  Santiago, 
i-  37)- 

2 Escriche,  89. 


263 


264  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


In  the  course  of  colonial  growth,  the  adelantado  was 
superseded  by  a collegiate  power  known  as  the  audiencia. 
In  Spain,  this  body  was  a superior  tribunal  of  one  or 
more  provinces,  composed  of  officers  learned  in  the  law, 
who  represented  the  king  in  the  administration  of  justice.1 
But  in  America  the  audiencia  wielded  governmental 
power  in  all  departments.  To  it  were  confided  in  the 
beginning,  and  later  in  the  absence  of  the  viceroy,  all 
matters  with  which  governmental  authority  might  properly 
deal.  It  was  held  to  be  the  principal  care  of  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Indies  to  give  the  Indians  spiritual  and 
temporal  instruction,  yet,  on  account  of  the  inconvenience 
of  distance,  this  charge  was  committed  to  the  audiencias.2 
The  audiencia  exercised  not  only  judicial  and  political 
functions,  but,  in  the  absence  of  any  superior  officer,  it 
was  also  the  chief  authority  in  military  affairs.  In  judicial 
matters,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  viceroy  as  president, 
the  audiencia  exercised  a large  measure  of  independence. 
In  such  cases  the  viceroy  had  no  vote,  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  was  left  to  the  judges,  or  ordinary 
members  of  the  audiencia.  The  viceroy,  however, 
signed  the  decisions  with  the  judges,  in  accordance  with 
the  practice  of  the  presidents  of  the  audiencias  of  Spain.3 

The  most  important  audiencias  in  America  were  those 
of  Santo  Domingo,  Mexico,  Guadalajara,  Guatemala, 
Pamana,  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota,  San  Francisco  del  Quito, 
Lima,  La  Plata,  Caracas,  Buenos  Aires,  and  Santiago  de 
Chile.  The  Philippine  Islands  were  governed  for  a time 
by  a special  audiencia,  but  about  1590  they  were  made 
dependent  on  the  viceroy  and  audiencia  of  Mexico,  and 
were  immediately  subject  to  a governor.  In  accordance 

1 Escriche,  304. 

2 Solorzano,  Polltica  Indiana,  lib.  v.  cap.  iii.-viii. 

3 Recopilacion  de  Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  ii.  tit.  xv.  ley  32.  Robert- 
son, Works,  xi.  1 7,  says:  "The  viceroys  have  been  prohibited,  in  the  most 
explicit  terms,  by  repeated  laws,  from  interfering  in  the  judicial  pro- 
ceedings of  the  courts  of  audience,  or  from  delivering  an  opinion,  or 
giving  a voice,  with  respect  to  any  point  litigated  before  them.” 


AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY  265 

with  a royal  decree  of  1593,  New  Spain  was  the  only  part 
of  Spanish  America  that  might  send  vessels  to,  or  receive 
goods  from,  these  islands.  Yet  the  connection  between 
these  two  regions  subject  to  a common  authority  was  not 
intimate ; the  voyage  from  Acapulco  and  the  return 
lasted  thirteen  or  fourteen  months,  and  one  vessel  a year 
sufficed  for  this  trade. 

The  great  power  of  the  audiencia  in  judicial  matters 
may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  there  was  no  appeal  from  its 
decisions,  except  in  civil  suits  of  more  than  ten  thousand 
pesos  de  oro,  in  which  there  was  an  appeal  to  the  king.1 
It  was  the  highest  judicial  authority  in  America.  It 
appears  to  have  been  formed  on  the  model  of  the  ancient 
supreme  court  of  Spain  ; at  the  same  time  it  was  for  its 
special  district  what  the  Council  of  the  Indies  was  for  the 
whole  of  Spanish  America.  Matters  of  grace,  appoint- 
ments to  office,  and  encomiendas  belonged  to  the  governors 
or  viceroys  as  presidents  of  the  audiencias.  In  case  of  a 
grievance  arising  on  account  of  a decision  of  the  viceroy 
or  president  in  matters  of  government,  an  appeal  might 
be  taken  to  the  audiencia,  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
and  ordinances,  and  the  viceroys  and  presidents  could 
not  prevent  such  an  appeal.2  That  in  some  respects  the 
powers  of  the  viceroy  and  the  audiencia  were  co- 
ordinate may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  each  without  in- 
forming the  other  might  correspond  directly  with  the  king. 
When  there  were  several  audiencias  within  the  limits  of 
the  viceroy’s  jurisdiction,  the  presidents  and  judges  of  the 
subordinate  audiencias  were  required  to  keep  the  viceroy 
informed  of  the  affairs  of  their  several  districts  ; and  these 
subordinate  audiencias  were  required  to  take  account  of, 
and  carry  out,  the  decrees  concerning  military  and  political 
affairs  which  the  viceroys  might  send  to  them.3 

In  the  language  of  a specific  law,  “ the  president  and 
judges  of  the  royal  audiencia  of  Guadalajara,  in  New 


1 Markham,  History  of  Peru,  120. 

2 Recop.  ii.  tit.  xv.  ley  35. 


3 Ibid,.,  ley  49. 


266  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


Galicia,  shall  obey  the  viceroy  in  everything,  and  hold 
with  him  the  good  relation  which  is  befitting  one  who 
represents  the  king.”1  In  case  the  position  of  viceroy 
or  governor  was  vacant,  the  audiencia,  whose  president 
was  thus  wanting,  might  grant  Indians  in  encomienda  ; 
and  it  was  specially  provided  that  while  the  office  of 
viceroy  of  Peru  was  vacant,  the  audiencia  of  Lima  should 
assume  the  control  of  governmental  affairs  not  only  in 
Peru,  but  also  in  Charcas,  Quito,  and  Tierra  Firme, 
exercising  all  these  powers  which  under  other  conditions 
belonged  to  the  viceroy  ; and  during  this  time  the  audien- 
cias  of  Charcas,  Quito,  and  Tierra  Firme  were  required  to 
obey  and  subordinate  themselves  to  the  audiencia  of  Lima. 
This  order  of  things  belonged,  of  course,  to  the  period 
before  the  establishment  of  the  viceroy  of  New  Granada. 
Similar  powers  devolved  upon  the  audiencia  of  Mexico, 
whenever  the  post  of  viceroy  became  vacant.  Whenever, 
on  account  of  the  absence  of  the  viceroy,  the  audiencia 
assumed  the  direction  of  governmental  affairs,  the  oldest 
judge  was  made  president,  and  empowered  to  perform  all 
the  functions  belonging  to  that  office.  Among  the  powers 
of  the  president  of  the  audiencia  was  embraced  that  of 
appointing  judges  to  fill  irregular  vacancies. 

In  their  judicial  capacity  the  audiencias  of  Lima  and 
Mexico  were  not  employed  as  courts  of  first  instance,  but 
under  certain  conditions  they  might  hear  both  civil  and 
criminal  cases.  Decisions  rendered  by  the  audiencias 
were  determined  by  the  vote  of  the  majority,  and  they 
were  then  signed  by  all  the  judges,  although  some  of  them 
might  have  held  dissenting  opinions.  In  addition  to  its 
judicial  and  executive  functions,  the  audiencia  was  ex- 
pected to  keep  elaborate  records  of  decrees  concerning  the 
Indies,  of  judgments  pronounced,  and  of  the  movements 
of  persons  within  the  limits  of  migration  permitted  by  law. 

The  first  royal  audiencia  regularly  established  in 
America  was  that  of  Santo  Domingo.  For  a short  time 

1 Recop.,  ii.  tit.  xv.  ley  52. 


AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY  267 

this  was  the  chief  Spanish  authority  in  the  Indies.  It  was 
composed  of  a president,  who  might  act  as  governor  and 
captain-general,  four  judges,  a fiscal,  an  alguacil-mayor,  a 
deputy  of  the  grand  chancellor,  and  such  other  officers 
as  were  found  to  be  necessary.  Among  the  audiencias 
established  in  America,  there  was  no  prescribed  uniformity 
in  the  number  of  members.  In  the  course  of  time  the 
number  of  members  in  the  several  audiencias  was  changed, 
in  view  of  the  increasing  population,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  demands  for  a more  efficient  government.  They 
varied  also  according  to  the  importance  of  the  country  of 
residence,  ranging  from  three  members  upwards.  They 
were  organised  sometimes  in  two  or  more  sections,  civil 
and  criminal  affairs  being  referred  to  different  sections. 
In  ordinary  cases  the  judges  of  the  audiencia  rendered 
the  decisions,  but  in  cases  of  great  import  other  judges 
were  called  to  sit  with  them.  Originally  all  the  islands 
of  the  West  Indies  and  the  neighbouring  portions  of  the 
mainland  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  audiencia  of 
Santo  Domingo. 


II 

The  audiencia  in  its  executive  capacity  failed  to  justify 
the  expectations  of  the  king,  and  a new  order  of  things  was 
introduced  by  the  appointment  of  a viceroy.  The  first 
viceroy  appointed  for  the  New  World  was  Antonio  de 
Mendoza.  His  commission  was  dated  at  Barcelona,  April 
17,  x535-  The  importance  which  this  office  later  assumed 
was  evidently  nor  foreseen  ; for  the  salary  assigned  at 
first  was  only  six  thousand  dollars,  three  thousand  as 
viceroy,  and  three  thousand  as  president  of  the  audiencia. 
A sum  of  two  thousand  ducats  was  appropriated  for  the 
expenses  of  his  bodyguard. 

The  viceroys,  like  the  presidents,  judges,  and  other 
royal  officers  in  Spanish  America,  were  hedged  about  with 
numerous  restrictions.  They  might  not  hold  more  than 


268  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


one  office  ; they  might  not  marry  or  contract  for  marriage 
within  the  districts  of  their  authority  ; and  their  sons 
and  daughters  were  under  the  same  restriction.  They 
were  prohibited  from  engaging  in  any  form  of  commercial 
enterprise.  They  might  not  leave  their  districts  without 
a special  licence  from  the  king  or  the  Council  of  the  Indies  ; 
and  they  might  not  hold  more  than  four  slaves  apiece. 
In  the  affairs  of  the  government,  the  viceroy  was  expected 
to  seek  the  advice  of  the  audiencia,  but  that  body  had  no 
power  to  determine  his  decision,  yet  in  judicial  matters 
the  oidores  were  supreme,  and  the  viceroy  had  no  vote. 
He  might,  however,  exercise  the  functions  of  captain- 
general. 

The  viceroy,  who  in  the  person  of  Mendoza  now  appears 
for  the  first  time  in  Spanish  America,  represented  the  King 
of  Spain.  He  stood  at  the  head  of  the  viceregal  govern- 
ment, exercised  his  vast  governmental  powers  with  justice 
equally  to  all  his  subjects  and  vassals,  and  urged  such 
measures  as  conduced  to  their  peace  and  elevation.  On 
assuming  his  duties,  his  first  care,  as  indicated  by  the  law, 
was  to  provide  for  the  service  of  God  and  the  preaching 
of  the  Christian  faith  for  the  benefit  of  the  natives  and 
the  inhabitants  of  the  provinces.  He  was  charged  to 
govern  and  defend  his  kingdom,  to  reward  services  ren- 
dered in  the  exploration,  pacification,  and  population  of 
the  Indies  ; to  collect  and  remit  funds  due  the  royal 
treasury  ; and  to  do  everything  which  it  would  devolve 
upon  the  king  to  do  were  he  governing  in  person,  except 
in  cases  of  special  prohibition.  All  other  officers  and  sub- 
jects, ecclesiastical  and  secular,  were  ordered  to  respect 
and  obey  him  as  the  representative  of  the  king.  He  was 
president  of  the  royal  audiencia,  was  captain-general  of 
the  provinces  within  his  dominions,  and  in  the  exercise  of 
his  powers  maintained  the  state  and  dignity  of  royalty. 
His  court  was  “ formed  upon  the  model  of  that  at  Madrid, 
with  horse  and  foot  guards,  a household  regularly  estab- 
lished, numerous  attendants,  and  ensigns  of  command, 


AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY  269 

displaying  such  magnificence,  as  hardly  retains  the  appear- 
ance of  delegated  authority.”  1 

The  newly-appointed  viceroy,  even  before  he  reached 
the  Indies,  was  treated  with  distinction.  On  arriving  at 
Seville  he  was  lodged  in  the  Alcazar,  and,  accompanied  by 
his  family  and  guard,  was  transported  to  America  without 
charge.  On  the  voyage,  the  viceroy  was  general  of  the 
armada,  or  fleet,  from  the  time  of  his  departure  from  the 
port  of  San  Lucar  till  his  arrival  at  Porto  Bello  or  Vera 
Cruz.  In  order  to  avoid  the  temptations  to  depart  from 
a wise  and  impartial  administration,  the  viceroy  was 
enjoined  from  taking  with  him  his  married  sons  or 
daughters,  his  sons-in-law  and  his  daughters-in-law.  He 
was  ordered,  on  the  outward  voyage,  in  passing  the  cities 
of  Porto  Bello  and  Cartagena,  to  inspect  the  public  works, 
the  artillery,  the  munitions,  and  the  men-of-war,  and  to 
send  to  the  king  a detailed  account  of  their  condition  and 
needs.  Whenever  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  was  promoted 
to  the  viceroyalty  of  Peru,  he  was  at  liberty  to  take  with 
him  his  furniture  and  wardrobe  and  all  his  servants, 
slaves,  and  other  persons  in  his  employment,  without 
paying  duty,  but  he  was  obliged  to  pay  the  accustomed 
costs  of  transportation.  While  making  the  voyage  from 
Mexico  to  Peru,  he  was  regarded  by  the  generals,  admirals, 
captains,  masters,  and  owners  of  vessels  as  their  superior, 
and  they  were  required  to  obey  and  salute  him,  when  not 
impeded  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  voyage. 
When  the  viceroy  entered  the  capital  of  Mexico  or  Peru 
for  the  first  time,  those  engaged  in  the  industries  and 
trade  might  not  be  required  to  go  out  to  receive 
him  ; nor  should  the  towns  and  villages  through  which 
he  passed  be  required  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his 
journey. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  term  of  service  the  viceroy 
obtained  information  as  to  the  condition  of  affairs  in  his 

1 Robertson,  Works,  xi.  15;  Memorias  de  los  Vireyes,  i.  287.  See 
also  Juan  and  Ulloa,  A Voyage  to  South  America,  ii.  41. 


270  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

dominions  through  conferences  with  his  predecessor,  and 
from  a memorial,  in  which  that  officer  gave  an  account  of 
his  administration,  of  the  things  accomplished,  and  of 
some  of  the  things  left  undone.  Within  his  dominions 
he  exercised  the  pardoning  power  under  essentially  the 
same  conditions  as  the  King  of  Spain.  He  kept  a record 
of  the  distribution  of  the  Indians,  and  acted  as  a judge 
of  first  instance  in  cases  in  which  they  were  involved  ; 
and  in  these  cases  an  appeal  lay  to  the  audiencia.  He 
had,  moreover,  the  power  to  place  the  Indians  in  positions 
of  feudal  dependence,  as  provided  by  the  laws  relating  to 
encomiendas,  in  case  they  were  not  already  in  this  posi- 
tion at  the  time  he  assumed  the  duties  of  his  office.  The 
viceroy  might  be  attended  by  a captain  and  a body  of 
soldiers,  the  number  of  whom  varied  at  different  periods. 
The  salary  of  the  viceroy,  moreover,  was  increased  from 
time  to  time,  but  whether  it  was  twenty  thousand  or  sixty 
thousand  ducats,  it  was  reckoned  from  the  day  on  which 
he  assumed  his  duties  until  the  arrival  of  his  successor  ; 
and  it  was  specifically  provided  that  there  should  not  be 
paid  at  any  time  two  salaries  for  the  same  post.  For  the 
journeys  from  and  to  Spain  six  months  each  were  allowed, 
and  both  voyages  were  made  at  the  public  expense. 

The  isolation  of  the  viceroy’s  position  helped  to  give 
his  administration  the  independence  of  kingly  rule.  It  is 
true  that,  like  almost  all  of  the  offices  in  Spanish  America, 
he  was  nominally  checked  in  his  functions  by  some  other 
office.  He  might  in  the  view  of  the  law  be  checked  by 
the  audiencia,  since  both  might  correspond  directly  with 
the  Council  of  the  Indies.  But  the  power  and  prestige 
of  the  viceroy  gave  him  means  of  exercising  a dominating 
influence  over  that  body,  as  well  as  over  subordinate  civil 
or  military  authorities.  He  could  not,  however,  create 
new  offices  or  fix  independently  the  term  of  his  power.1 

1 Matienzo,  Don  Juan,  Gobierno  del  Peril,  parte  ii.  cap.  i.,  ii.  ; 
Recopilacion  de  leyes  de  los  reynos  de  Indias,  lib.  iii.  tit.  iii.,  contains 
laws  which  provide  specifically  for  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  vice- 
roys and  presidents ; Solorzano,  Politica  Indiana,  lib.  v.  cap.  xii., 
xiii.,  xiv. 


AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY  271 

The  ceremonies  attending  the  arrival  and  installation 
of  a new  viceroy  are  described  in  detail  by  Juan  and 
Ulloa  : 

“ As  soon  as  the  viceroy  lands  at  Payta,”  they  write, 
“ two  hundred  leagues  from  Lima,  he  sends  a person  of 
distinction  as  ambassador  to  inform  the  preceding  viceroy 
of  his  arrival  in  Peru.  The  corregidor  of  Piura  receives 
the  viceroy  at  the  port,  furnishes  him  with  whatever  may 
be  necessary  for  his  journey,  and  accompanies  him  to  the 
border  of  the  neighbouring  corregidor’s  district,  con- 
structing temporary  structures  for  sheltering  him  in  the 
uninhabited  country  where  it  may  be  necessary  for  him 
to  stop.  He  finally  arrives  at  Lima,  and,  without  stop- 
ping, passes  incognito  to  Callao,  where  he  is  received  with 
all  possible  ceremony  by  one  of  the  ordinary  alcaldes 
of  Lima,  appointed  for  this  purpose,  and  by  the  military 
officers. 

“ The  next  day  all  the  courts,  secular  and  ecclesi- 
astical, wait  on  him  from  Lima,  and  he  receives  them 
under  a canopy  in  the  following  order  : the  audiencia, 
the  chamber  of  accounts,  the  cathedral  chapter,  the  magis- 
tracy, the  consulado,  the  inquisition,  the  tribunal  de 
crusada,  the  superiors  of  the  religious  orders,  the  colleges, 
and  other  persons  of  eminence.  On  this  day  the  judges 
attend  the  viceroy  to  an  entertainment  given  by  the 
alcalde  : and  all  persons  of  note  take  a pride  in  doing  the 
like  to  his  attendants.  At  night  there  is  a play,  to  which 
the  ladies  are  admitted  veiled,  and  in  their  usual  dress, 
to  see  the  new  viceroy. 

“ The  second  day  after  his  arrival  at  Callao  he  goes 
in  a coach  provided  for  him  by  the  city,  to  the  chapel  de 
la  Legua,  so  called  from  its  being  about  half-way  between 
Callao  and  Lima,  a league  from  either  city,  where  he  is 
met  by  the  late  viceroy,  and  both  alighting  from  their 
coaches,  the  latter  delivers  to  him  a truncheon  as  the 
ensign  of  the  government  of  the  kingdom.  After  this, 
and  the  usual  compliments,  they  separate. 

“ If  the  new  viceroy  intends  to  make  his  public  entry 


272  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

into  Lima  in  a few  days,  he  returns  to  Callao,  where  he 
stays  till  the  day  appointed  ; but  as  a longer  space  is 
generally  allowed  for  the  many  preparatives  necessary 
to  such  a ceremony,  he  continues  his  journey  to  Lima, 
and  takes  up  his  residence  in  his  palace,  the  fitting  up  of 
which  on  this  occasion  is  committed  to  the  junior  auditor 
and  the  ordinary  alcalde. 

“ On  the  day  of  public  entry,  the  streets  are  cleaned 
and  hung  with  tapestry,  and  magnificent  triumphal  arches 
erected  at  proper  distances.1  At  two  in  the  afternoon 
the  viceroy  goes  privately  to  the  church  belonging  to 
the  monastery  of  Montserrat,  which  is  separated  by  an 
arch  and  a gate  from  the  street  where  the  cavalcade  is 
to  begin.  As  soon  as  all  who  are  to  assist  in  this  pro- 
cession are  assembled,  the  viceroy  and  his  retinue  mount 
their  horses,  provided  by  the  city  for  this  ceremony,  and 
the  gates  being  thrown  open,  the  procession  begins  in 
the  following  order  : 

“ The  militia  ; the  colleges  ; the  university  with  the 
professors  in  their  proper  habits  ; the  chamber  of  ac- 
compts  ; the  members  of  the  audiencia  on  horses  with 
trappings  ; the  magistracy,  in  crimson  velvet  robes  lined 
with  brocade  of  the  same  colour,  and  a particular  kind 
of  caps  on  their  heads,  a dress  only  used  on  this  occasion. 
Some  members  of  the  corporation  who  walk  on  foot 
support  the  canopy  over  the  viceroy,  and  the  two  ordinary 

1 It  is  reported  that  when  the  Duke  de  la  Palata  entered  Lima  as 
viceroy  the  merchants  caused  the  streets  through  which  he  was  to 
enter  the  plaza  to  be  paved  with  ingots  of  silver  for  two  squares. 
These  ingots  or  bars  were  between  twelve  and  fifteen  inches  long,  four 
or  five  in  breadth,  and  two  or  three  in  thickness.  One  writer  estimates 
that  the  value  involved  was  eighty  millions  of  crowns.  The  viceroy 
was,  however,  not  the  only  one  honoured  in  this  manner.  On  the 
occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  canonisation  of  Santa  Rosa  at  Lima, 
the  pavement  of  the  street  called  Mercaderes  was  covered  with  bars 
of  silver  ; also,  previously,  on  the  occasion  of  the  procession  of  Nuestra 
Senora  de  los  Desamparados,  “ Todo  el  sitio  que  el  claro  del  arco  dejo 
para  transito  de  la  soberana  imdgen,  se  empedraron  con  mas  de  mil 
barras  de  plata,  que  por  su  magnitud  y ley  importaron  dos  millones  ” 
(Odriozola,  Documentos  lit.  del  Peru,  iv.  368). 


AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY  273 

alcaldes,  which  are  in  the  same  dress,  and  walk  in  the 
procession,  act  as  equerries,  holding  the  bridle  of  his 
horse. 

“ This  procession  is  of  considerable  length,  the  viceroy 
passing  through  several  streets  till  he  comes  to  the 
great  square,  in  which  the  whole  company  alights,  and 
is  received  by  the  archbishop  and  chapter.  The  Te 
Deum  is  then  sung  before  the  viceroy,  and  the  officers 
placed  in  their  respective  seats  ; after  which  he  again 
mounts  his  horse  and  proceeds  to  the  palace  gate, 
where  he  is  received  by  the  audiencia,  and  conducted 
to  an  apartment  in  which  a splendid  collation  is 
provided,  as  are  also  others  for  the  nobility  in  the  ante- 
chambers. 

“ On  the  morning  of  the  following  day,  he  returns  to 
the  cathedral  in  his  coach,  with  the  retinue  and  pomp 
usual  on  solemn  festivals,  and  public  ceremonies.  He 
is  preceded  by  the  whole  troop  of  horse-guards,  the 
members  of  the  several  tribunals  in  their  coaches,  and 
after  them  the  viceroy  himself  with  his  family,  the  com- 
pany of  the  halberdiers  bringing  up  the  rear.  On  this 
occasion  all  the  riches  and  ornaments  of  the  church  are 
displayed,  the  archbishop  celebrates,  in  his  pontifical 
robes,  the  mass  of  thanksgiving  ; and  the  sermon  is 
preached  by  one  of  the  best  orators  of  the  chapter. 
From  thence  the  viceroy  returns  to  the  palace  attended 
by  all  the  nobility,  who  omit  nothing  to  make  a splendid 
figure  on  the  occasion.  In  the  evening  of  this,  and  the 
two  following  days,  the  collations  are  repeated,  with  all 
the  plenty  and  delicacy  imaginable.  To  increase  the 
festivity,  all  women  of  credit  have  free  access  to  the  halls, 
galleries,  and  gardens  of  the  palace. 

“ To  all  this  ceremony  follow  bull-fights  which  last 
for  five  days.  The  first  three  days  are  in  honour  of  the 
viceroy  ; the  last  two  are  for  the  ambassador  sent  to 
announce  his  arrival.  After  the  bull-fights  come  the 
ceremonies  of  reception  by  the  university,  the  colleges, 
vol.  1.  s 


274  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  all  the  religious  communities,  with  addresses  and 
disputations  which  are  subsequently  published.  The 
rector  gathers  those  delivered  by  members  of  the  uni- 
versity into  a volume,  which,  bound  in  velvet  and  gold, 
he  presents  to  the  viceroy,  accompanied  by  a piece  of 
jewelry  that  is  never  of  less  value  than  eight  hundred  or  a 
thousand  dollars.  Essentially  the  same  procedure  as  that 
of  the  university  is  followed  by  the  colleges  and  religious 
houses  in  the  order  of  their  establishment,  and  when 
the  viceroy  goes  to  visit  them,  they  present  him  with 
the  most  notable  things  made  by  them.”  1 

After  all  this  ceremony  the  viceroy  entered  upon 
the  routine  of  his  administration,  which  was  continued 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  king ; but  the  average 
term  of  the  later  viceroys  of  Peru  was  seven  and  a half 
years. 

Prior  to  1739,  with  the  exception  of  the  brief  period 
of  the  viceroyalty  of  1718,  in  New  Granada,  all  the 
territory  under  Spanish  rule  in  South  America  was  subor- 
dinated to  the  authority  of  the  viceroy  of  Peru.  The 
city  of  Lima  was  the  political  capital  of  this  vast  domain. 
By  the  final  establishment  of  the  viceroyalty  of  Santa 
Fe,  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada,  the  north-western  part 
of  this  territory  was  brought  under  a new  viceroy.  The 
south-eastern  part  of  the  continent  continued  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  viceroy  of  Peru  until  1776,  when  the 
viceroyalty  of  Rio  de  la  Plata  was  created.  This  distri- 
bution of  territory  was  modified  in  1796  by  withdrawing 
certain  districts  north-west  of  Lake  Titicaca  from  the 
viceroyalty  of  Rio  de  la  Plata  and  adding  them  to  the 
viceroyalty  of  Peru.  In  1802  Peru  acquired  from  the 
viceroyalty  of  Santa  Fe  the  districts  of  Maynas  and 

1 Juan  and  Ulloa,  A Voyage  io  South  America,  ii.  46-50  ; Markham, 
Cuzco  and  Lima,  290  ; Libro  primero  de  cabildos  de  Lima,  part  ii.  227-38. 
For  this  reception  the  law  permitted  the  expenditure  of  twelve  thousand 
dollars.  The  different  items  of  this  expenditure  are  indicated  on 
pp.  237  and  238  of  the  Libro  primero  named  above.  Cobo,  His- 
toria  de  Lima,  93. 


AUDIENCIA  AND  THE  VICEROY  275 

Quijos,  except  the  town  of  Papallacta  ; and,  in  1804,  it 
was  determined  that  the  provinces  of  Guayaquil  and 
Chiloe  should  be  subject  to  the  government  of  Lima.1 

1 Villaran,  L.  F.,  La  Constitution  Peruana,  12,  13.  A somewhat 
elaborate  discussion  of  the  subject  of  this  chapter  is  contained  in 
Cevallos,  Historia  del  Ecuador,  ii.  cap.  i. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


NEW  GRANADA  UNDER  AN  AUDIENCIA 

I.  The  establishment  of  the  audiencia.  II.  The  Benalc&zar- Robledo 
episode.  III.  The  creation  of  the  archbishopric  of  New  Granada. 
IV.  The  archbishop  and  the  synod  of  1556.  V.  The  panic  caused 
by  the  exploits  of  Lope  de  Aguirre.  VI.  The  conflict  between 
civilians  and  ecclesiastics.  VII.  The  Archbishop  of  Bogota. 
VIII.  The  president-governor  and  captain-general. 

I 

The  creation  of  an  audiencia  for  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota, 
in  1549,  marks  an  important  step  in  the  early  social  pro- 
gress of  New  Granada,  progress  which  resulted  later  in 
the  organisation  of  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada.  When 
the  audiencia  was  formed,  provision  was  made  through 
it  to  hold  the  residencia  of  Armendariz,  who  resigned  his 
office  in  favour  of  that  body.  Mercado,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  be  the  president,  was  familiar  with  the  pro- 
cedure in  cases  of  this  kind,  but  after  his  death  the  power 
of  the  audiencia  rested  in  the  hands  of  two  young  and 
inexperienced  lawyers,  who  were  not  disposed  to  assume 
the  duty  that  had  been  particularly  imposed  upon  the 
president.  They  were  conscientious  in  their  work,  and 
won  public  favour  by  their  amiability,  their  honesty,  and 
their  efforts  to  adjust  differences  peaceably,  and  to  induce 
the  colonists  to  avoid  the  contests  of  litigation.  The 
period  of  their  administration  was,  according  to  Acosta, 
“ the  golden  age  of  Spanish  justice  in  Santa  Fe.”  1 

The  fact  that  the  will  of  the  Crown  with  respect  to  the 
residencia  of  Armend&riz  had  not  been  carried  out,  led 


1 Acosta,  New  Granada,  331. 
276 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  277 

to  conflict  between  the  local  authorities  and  the  agents 
of  the  Crown.  And  now,  after  several  years,  the  visit ador, 
Zurita,  arrived  to  perform  the  neglected  task.  He  found 
that,  although  certain  complaints  had  been  sent  to  the 
Crown  concerning  Armendariz,  that  officer  had  been 
protected  by  the  audiencia.  The  visitador  was,  there- 
fore, obliged  to  withdraw  without  having  been  able  to 
execute  his  purpose. 

Captain  Lancheros  informed  the  Council  of  the  Indies 
of  the  condition  of  affairs  that  led  to  Zurita’s  defeat,  and 
thereupon  Juan  Montano  was  sent  to  be  a member  of  the 
audiencia,  with  orders  to  bring  Armendariz  to  trial. 
Under  these  orders,  Armendariz  was  seized,  and  treated 
with  great  indignity  ; the  constables  even  stripped  him 
of  his  clothing,  which,  it  was  said,  they  carried  off  as 
payment  for  their  services.  Finding  Armendariz  in  this 
predicament,  Captain  Lancheros  magnanimously  came  to 
his  assistance,  and  furnished  him  with  the  clothes  and 
money  needed  for  his  journey  to  Spain,  whither  he  was  sent 
to  be  tried.  In  this  trial,  however,  he  was  able  to  show 
that  his  conduct  was  justifiable.  This  case  furnishes  a fair 
illustration  of  one  of  the  disagreeable  features  of  official 
life  as  it  was  in  the  Spanish  dependencies,  where  officers 
who  had  failed  in  the  somewhat  difficult  task  of  pleasing 
everybody,  were  sometimes  arrested  and  subjected  to 
transportation  to  Spain  to  be  tried,  when  no  sufficient 
reason  existed  for  imposing  upon  them  this  great  hardship. 
This  proceeding  in  some  instances  not  only  involved  the 
accused  in  ruinous  expenses,  but  it  also  robbed  them  of 
the  opportunities  of  their  best  years.  It  often  happened 
that  the  visitador  sent  by  the  Council  of  the  Indies  to 
examine  the  conduct  of  an  official  was  worse  than  the 
person  to  be  examined.  This  was  clearly  true  in  the  case 
of  Visitador  Montano.  The  tradition  of  his  many  acts 
of  cruelty  remained  for  decades  in  the  community  that 
had  been  afflicted  by  his  presence.  Having  disposed  of 
Armendariz,  he  caused  the  oidores,  Gongora  and  Galarza, 


278  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

to  be  arrested  for  no  other  reason  than  because  they  had 
been  disposed  to  countenance  the  acts  of  that  officer  ; and 
this  could  hardly  be  construed  as  meriting  punishment, 
since  it  was  subsequently  shown  in  Spain  that  there  was 
no  valid  ground  for  the  charges  urged  against  him.  Still, 
in  his  disregard  for  justice,  Montano  caused  the  oidores 
to  be  embarked  for  Spain  ; but  on  the  voyage  thither 
they  were  lost  in  a shipwreck  off  the  coast  of  Africa. 
Governor  Pedro  de  Heredia  and  many  other  persons 
perished  at  the  same  time.  The  wrecked  vessel  carried 
also  the  documents  in  a case  which  had  been  prepared 
against  Montano.  These  were  saved,  and  the  visitador 
was  later  convicted  and  executed.1 

Bogota  had  become  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of 
New  Granada.  The  other  colonies,  Santa  Marta,  Carta- 
gena, Popayan,  and  the  rest,  had  local  governors,  who 
were  subordinated  to  the  president  and  audiencia  of 
Bogota  ; yet,  in  spite  of  this  subordination,  particularly 
with  respect  to  judicial  affairs,  the  several  colonies,  or 
provinces,  continued  to  maintain  a certain  degree  of 
independence. 

1 On  Montano’s  arrival  in  Bogota,  see  Piedrahita,  lib.  xii.  cap. 
i.;  on  the  sending  of  Armendariz,  Gongora,  and  Galarza  to  Spain, 
and  the  loss  of  the  oidores  off  the  coast  of  Africa,  see  Piedrahita,  lib. 
xii.  cap  iv. 

" Y fue  la  residencia  cometida 
al  licenciado  dicho  Juan  Montano, 
que  vino  por  oidor  aquella  era, 
y para  la  tomar,  por  consiguiente, 
a Gongora  y Galarza  que  por  causa 
de  ser  al  Miguel  Diaz  favorables 
y los  demas  recuentros  y pasiones 
habidas  con  Alonso  de  Zorita, 
estaban  en  consejo  ya  mal  puestos, 
pues  fuera  desta  culpa  no  tenian 
otra  de  que  poder  ser  imputados, 
antes  en  este  reino  tan  bien  quistos, 
que  les  llamaban  padres  de  la  patria.” 

Castellanos,  Juan  de,  Historia  del  Nuevo  Reino  de 
Granada , ii.  178. 

Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  119;  Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de 
Tierra  Firme,  iii.  191. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  279 

In  the  years  near  the  end  of  the  first  half  and  the 
beginning  of  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a 
number  of  towns  were  established  in  the  interior  of  New 
Granada.  The  most  noteworthy  of  these  were  Pamplona 
(1549),  in  ^e  territory  of  the  Musos,  and  Ibague  (1551),  in 
the  territory  of  the  Pijaos.  Like  many  of  the  other 
settlements  of  Latin  America,  which  were  called  cities, 
these  were  military  outposts  designed  to  bring  into  sub- 
jection the  natives  near  whom  they  were  established. 
Some  of  these  settlements  were  not  able  to  maintain 
themselves  in  the  face  of  the  hostile  Indians,  and  were 
in  the  course  of  time  abandoned.  Others  carried  on  the 
fight  to  a successful  issue,  and,  having  gained  the  mastery 
over  the  enemy,  placed  them  under  conditions  which 
caused  them  rapidly  to  disappear.  The  tribes  about 
Mariquita  at  the  time  of  its  foundation,  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  comprised  more  than  thirty  thou- 
sand men  capable  of  bearing  arms.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  there  remained  only  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred.  Of  the  eighteen  thousand  Indians  of 
the  Pijaos,  all  but  six  hundred  disappeared  in  the  course 
of  fifty  years.  The  bulk  of  these  had  been  destroyed  by 
smallpox,  by  work  in  the  mines,  and  by  the  hopeless 
melancholy  induced  by  observing  the  gradual  ruin  of 
their  families  and  their  tribes.  Of  all  of  the  natives  who 
came  into  contact  with  the  Europeans  in  this  part  of 
America,  the  Pijaos  were  the  most  vigorous  and  the  most 
barbarous.  With  respect  to  their  force  and  their  warlike 
disposition,  they  might  be  compared  with  the  Araucanians, 
but,  as  to  their  customs,  they  were  savages,  and  in  their 
social  practices  many  degrees  below  the  natives  of  southern 
Chile.  The  early  historians  present  them  as  cannibals, 
Zamora  affirming  that  they  had  public  markets  for  human 
flesh.1 

1 Historia  de  la  Provincia  de  San  A ntonio  del  Nuevo  Reino  dc  Granada 
del  Orden  de  Predicadores,  349  ; Acosta,  Nueva  Granada,  332-7  ; Groot, 
Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  105-8;  Simon,  Las  Conquistas  deTierra 
Firmc,  iii.  93-133- 


28o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


II 

Not  long  after  the  organisation  of  the  audiencia,  a 
third  member  in  the  person  of  Francisco  Briceno  arrived 
at  Bogota.  A few  months  after  his  arrival,  he  went  to 
Popayan  to  hold  the  trial,  or  residencia,  of  the  governor, 
Sebastian  de  Benalcdzar,  who  was  charged  with  the  death 
of  Robledo.  With  the  approval  of  Benalc&zar,  Robledo 
had  made  explorations  and  discoveries  in  the  valley  of 
the  Cauca,  and  had  founded  there  the  city  of  Antioquia. 
Afterwards,  he  went  to  Spain  to  obtain  the  governorship 
of  this  territory,  which  involved  a request  to  have  the 
territory  subject  to  the  governor  of  Popayan  divided. 
Benalcazar  was  naturally  offended  at  this  action,  and 
declared  Robledo  a traitor.  In  Spain,  Robledo  received 
the  title  of  Marshal,  and  Armendariz  made  him  his 
lieutenant.  When  he  returned  from  Spain,  he  was  re- 
ceived by  the  inhabitants  of  Antioquia  as  their  governor, 
but  certain  other  towns  stood  firmly  for  Benalcazar,  and 
resisted  Robledo’s  pretensions.  Benalcazar  then  made 
war  on  Robledo,  arrested  his  messengers,  and,  on  the 
night  of  October  i,  1546,  took  him  prisoner,  and  charged 
him  with  being  a traitor,  a deserter,  and  a usurper.  The 
case  was  brought  before  a council  of  war  summoned  by 
Benalcazar,  and  Robledo  was  condemned  to  death  and 
executed.  For  this  act  Benalcazar  was  brought  to  trial 
before  Briceno.  The  widow  of  Robledo  had  been  active 
in  instigating  the  prosecution,  and  when  Benalcazar  re- 
ceived the  death  sentence,  it  was  said  that  Briceno,  the 
judge,  was  influenced  by  the  advocacy  of  the  widow' ; for 
shortly  after  the  trial  he  married  her.  Benalcazar  appealed 
to  the  king,  who  annulled  Briceno’s  decision.  Groot,  the 
historian  of  New  Granada,  affirms  that  everybody  was 
surprised  and  scandalised  by  Briceno’s  act ; for  Benal- 
cazar was  regarded  “as  an  honourable  man,  wffio  had 
rendered  great  services,  and  who  was  generally  beloved 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  281 


for  his  personal  qualities.”  In  executing  the  judgment 
of  the  council  of  war,  “ he  had  not  thought  of  playing  the 
role  of  a criminal,  and  nevertheless,  as  such,  under  a 
sentence  of  death,  he  had  appealed  to  the  king.  This 
idea  filled  him  with  melancholy,  and  preyed  upon  his 
mind  in  such  a manner,  that  it  caused  his  death  when  he 
was  at  Cartagena,  in  1550,  on  his  way  to  Spain.”  After 
the  departure  of  Benalcazar,  Briceno  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  government  of  Popayan.1 


Ill 

The  return  of  Gonsalo  Jimenez  de  Quesada  from  Spain 
to  Bogota  was  the  beginning  of  the  second  period  of  his 
adventurous  life.  He  had  received  the  title  of  Marshal, 
and  was  made  a life-member  of  the  cabildo,  with  an  in- 
come of  three  thousand  ducats  to  be  derived  from  the  tri- 
bute of  Indians  not  previously  assigned.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  capital,  who  held  the  discoverer  in  esteem  and  affection, 
regarded  the  favours  granted  by  the  Crown  as  an  inade- 
quate compensation  for  the  services  which  he  had 
rendered.  During  the  twelve  years  of  his  absence, 
the  settlement  which  he  founded  had  grown  to  be  the 
political  capital  of  an  extensive  territory.  The  Church 
recognised  the  importance  which  it  had  acquired,  and 
caused  Juan  de  los  Barrios,  Bishop  of  Santa  Marta,  to  be 
transferred  to  Bogota,  where  he  was  promoted  to  the 
office  of  archbishop.  The  papal  authorisation  of  the 

1 Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada , i.  27,  105-11  ; Rodriguez 
Fresle,  Conquista  y Descubrimiento  del  Nuevo  Reino  de  Granada,  41-3  ; 
Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  iii.  280.  Groot  affirms,  in  a 
note,  i.  iii.,  that  in  the  first  edition  of  his  work  he  followed  Castellanos 
and  Acosta,  and  expressed  a very  different  opinion  concerning  Benal- 
cazar from  that  given  in  the  second  edition,  which  is  based  on  “el 
documento  autentico  de  la  relacion  de  meritos  y servicios  de  don 
Sebastian  de  Benalcazar,  presentada  a la  Corte  de  Espana.”  This  docu- 
ment is  printed  as  Appendix  No.  I of  his  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada, 
i.  477-83  ; Mendiburu,  viii.  281-3  ; Piedrahita,  lib.  xi.  cap.  viii. 


282  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


transfer  of  the  cathedral,  with  the  prelate  and  the 
cabildo,  to  Bogota,  was  issued  at  Rome,  April  n, 
I553-1 

The  elevation  of  Bogota  to  be  the  seat  of  the  metro- 
politan church  excited  great  enthusiasm  among  the 
inhabitants,  and  when  plans  were  formed  for  erecting  a 
suitable  edifice,  a large  number  of  persons  were  willing 
to  contribute  to  the  enterprise.  Those  who  were  able 
donated  money  or  materials,  and  the  poor  gave  their 
labour.  The  structure  was  built  rapidly,  but  without  the 
care  and  skill  necessary  for  its  stability.  When  it  was 
completed,  a day  was  fixed  for  its  dedication,  but  on  the 
eve  of  that  day,  it  collapsed  and  became  a useless  ruin.2 

IV 

With  the  creation  of  the  archbishopric  of  Newr  Granada, 
the  ecclesiastical  organisation  assumed  a new  importance 
by  the  side  of  the  civil  authorities.  In  1556,  Archbishop 
Barrios  convoked  a synod  of  the  diocese,  which,  among 
other  things,  undertook  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  the 
clergy  with  respect  to  the  Indians.  The  Constituciones 
issued  by  the  assembly  were  designed  to  contain  all  the 
rules  necessary  for  the  guidance  of  the  parish  priests,  the 
missionaries,  the  encomenderos,  and  all  other  persons 
whose  duty  it  was  to  instruct  the  natives.  The  use  of 
force  to  compel  the  natives  to  receive  instruction  was 
specifically  prohibited.  Although  the  priests  did  not 
always  obey  the  injunctions  of  their  ecclesiastical  superiors, 
and  sometimes  set  an  evil  standard  for  secular  persons, 
by  their  greed,  cruelty,  and  immoral  practices,  still  the 
voice  of  the  Church  was  almost  the  only  voice  that  was 


1 Simon , Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  iii.  191  ; Acosta,  Joaquin, 
Nueva  Granada,  343  ; Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  118,  484  ; 
Caicedo,  Fernando,  Memorias  para  la  historia  de  la  catedral. 

2 On  the  cathedral  of  Bogota,  see  Vergara  y Velasco,  Capitulos  de 
una  historia  civil  y militar  de  Colombia,  20-23. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  283 

raised  in  favour  of  a just  or  charitable  treatment  of  the 
Indians.1 

If  rules  and  investigations  had  been  sufficient  to 
produce  and  maintain  right  conduct  on  the  part  of  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  officials  in  Spanish  America,  the  Spanish 
dependencies  would  have  presented  an  ideal  state  of 
political  and  religious  life  ; but,  unfortunately,  the  clergy 
did  not  always  obey  these  rules,  and  the  investigations 
into  the  conduct  of  civil  officers  could  not  obliterate  the 
evil  which  they  might  have  already  committed.  The 
visitador  was  not  always  an  impartial  judge,  and  some- 
times he  succumbed  to  temptations  that  made  him  blind 
to  the  errors  he  was  expected  to  correct.  The  distance 
from  court,  and  the  infrequent  communication,  often 
rendered  him  confident  that  his  malfeasance  would  not 
be  discovered  ; and  in  this  confidence  his  individual  con- 
science was  not  always  an  effective  check  on  his  desire 
to  share  in  the  spoils  of  corruption. 

On  receiving  a repartimiento,  the  encomendero  as- 
sumed the  duty  to  provide  instruction  in  religion  for  the 
Indians,  but  from  the  beginning  of  the  system  this  duty 
was  neglected.  When  the  organisation  of  the  Church 
was  completed  by  the  creation  of  an  archbishop,  it  began 
to  assume  with  respect  to  the  civil  government  the  air 
of  a co-ordinate,  if  not  a superior,  power.  The  synod 
uttered  a protest  against  the  neglect  of  the  encomenderos 
in  not  having  provided  priests  to  instruct  the  natives, 
and  to  administer  to  them  the  sacraments,  and  in  not 
having  provided  churches  with  the  requisite  ornaments 
and  articles  for  the  service.  In  view  of  this  neglect,  the 
archbishop  and  the  assembly  requested  that  the  churches 
should  be  opened,  that  the  encomenderos  should  provide 
and  maintain  religious  teachers  and  priests,  and  all 

1 Jose  Manuel  Groot,  the  historian,  has  brought  to  light  the  Consti- 
tuciones  sinodales,  and  published  them,  or  a large  part  of  them,  as 
Appendix  III,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Hisloria  de  Nueva  Granada. 
They  are  also  referred  to  in  the  text  of  the  same  work,  i.  120. 


284  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


things  necessary  for  divine  worship.  For  their  evil  gains 
by  reason  of  their  carelessness  and  neglect  with  respect 
to  religious  instruction,  it  was  desired  by  the  Church  that 
the  encomenderos  should  make  restitution  and  satis- 
faction in  such  form  and  amount  as  ought  to  be  made, 
and  that  the  manner  in  which  this  should  be  done  might 
be  determined  by  certain  ecclesiastical  officials.1 

This  attitude  of  the  synod  provoked  opposition  and  re- 
sistance on  the  part  of  the  encomenderos,  who  main- 
tained that  the  utterance  of  that  body  involved  a threat 
and  censure,  and  was  thus  an  offence  to  the  civil  authority. 
The  cabildo,  therefore,  brought  to  the  audiencia  a com- 
plaint against  the  archbishop,  and  that  body  declared 
the  action  of  the  prelate  and  the  assembly  null  and  of 
no  effect.  This  undue  assumption  of  authority  by  the 
synod,  although  designed  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
natives,  was  the  cause  of  a temporary  loss  of  ecclesi- 
astical prestige.  In  the  face  of  a repudiation  of  their 
authority  by  the  audiencia,  the  Constitucioncs  ceased  to 
be  regarded  as  important,  and  were  soon  forgotten.  The 
episode  is  chiefly  significant,  therefore,  merely  as  one  of 
the  numerous  instances,  in  the  Spanish  dependencies,  of 
ecclesiastical  encroachment  on  the  domain  of  the  civil 
power,  and  of  the  rise  of  hostility  between  the  encomen- 
deros and  the  Church.2 

With  the  establishment  of  the  audiencia  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  government  of  the  oidores  at  Bogota, 
the  prestige  of  the  provincial  governors  declined.  Bogota 
became  recognised  as  the  seat  of  an  authority  which 
embraced  within  its  jurisdiction  the  several  provinces  of 
New  Granada.  Cartagena,  Popayan,  and  Santa  Marta 
looked  to  the  government  established  at  Bogota  as  to 
their  superior  ; and  when  the  dissensions  that  had  arisen 
in  the  audiencia  were  allayed,  the  several  settlements 

1 Const ituciones  stnodales,  of  June  3,  1556,  titulo  x.  cap.  ix. ; printed 
as  Appendix  No.  III.  in  Groot,  i.  488-506. 

s Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  123,  124. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  285 

constituting  the  new  state  appeared  to  be  entering  upon 
a period  of  peace  and  prosperity.  But  the  prospect  for 
a short  time  seemed  to  be  less  pleasing,  when  the  inhabi- 
tants learned  of  the  advance  of  Lope  de  Aguirre  in  Vene- 
zuela. The  career  of  this  remarkable  tyrant  furnishes 
a striking  chapter  in  the  history  of  crime.  He  was  the 
evil  genius  of  the  Ursua  expedition  into  the  valley  of 
the  Amazon. 


V 

Captain  Pedro  de  Ursua  had  been  conspicuous  in  the 
military  undertakings,  and  in  the  work  of  colonising  in 
New  Granada.  He  went  to  Lima  in  1558,  and  appeared 
to  the  Marquis  of  Canete,  the  viceroy  of  Peru,  as  the 
proper  person  to  lead  an  expedition  into  the  valley  of 
the  Amazon,  with  the  design  of  continuing  the  search  for 
El  Dorado.  The  company  of  the  expedition,  when  formed, 
embraced  many  persons  whose  desperate  characters  made 
the  authorities  of  Peru  anxious  to  be  rid  of  them.  The 
most  perverse  of  these  was  Lope  de  Aguirre.  Besides  the 
recklessness  of  many  of  the  men,  another  source  of  trouble 
was  Ines  de  Atienza,  a woman  whom  Ursua  was  not 
willing  to  leave  behind.1  The  company  encamped  on  the 
bank  of  the  Huallaga  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  equip- 
ment and  constructing  vessels  for  the  voyage  down  the 
river.  The  first  omen  of  evil  was  the  assassination  of 
the  commander,  Pedro  Ramiro,  prompted  by  jealousy 
and  the  disappointment  of  two  other  officers  who  had 
aspired  to  his  position. 

Towards  the  end  of  September  1560,  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  journey  were  complete,  and  the  company 
proceeded  in  vessels  down  the  Huallaga  and  the  Maranon. 
They  were  carried  along  by  the  current  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Putumayo,  and  here,  in  the  heart  of  the  continent, 

1 In6s  de  Atienza  was  a daughter  of  Bias  de  Atienza,  a resident  of 
the  city  of  Trujillo,  and  the  widow  of  Pedro  de  Arcos,  a resident  of 
Piruta  (Simon,  i,  250). 


286  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


they  landed  and  formed  an  encampment.  The  lawless 
spirit  that  had  shown  itself  in  the  murder  of  Ramiro, 
manifested  itself  here  in  open  rebellion.  The  provoking 
cause  was  the  appointment  of  Juan  de  Vargas  to  be 
Ursua’s  lieutenant.  The  rebellion  was  led  by  Lope  de 
Aguirre,  and  resulted  in  the  death  of  both  Vargas  and 
Ursua.  The  disappearance  of  the  tw’o  principal  leaders 
threw  the  affairs  of  the  expedition  into  the  hands  of 
Aguirre,  who  became  the  maestre  de  campo,  while  Fer- 
nando de  Guzman  was  proclaimed  general.  The  extreme 
and  uncompromising  attitude  of  Aguirre  is  seen  in  the 
fact  that  while  Guzman  was  disposed  to  seek  to  justify 
the  course  of  the  revolt,  Aguirre  was  opposed  to  any 
action  that  would  seem  to  suggest  an  apology  ; he  even 
sought  to  have  his  followers  renounce  their  allegiance  to 
the  king.  At  one  time  he  contemplated  a return  to  Peru 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  independent  govern- 
ment, and  Guzman  was  selected  to  be  the  sovereign  prince 
of  that  country.  At  a subsequent  landing  a number  of 
persons  were  murdered,  who  were  supposed  not  to  be  in 
sympathy  with  Aguirre’s  plans,  or  who  might  in  any  way 
hinder  their  execution.  These  murders  were  the  begin- 
nings of  a long  series  of  similar  acts,  directed  by  Aguirre 
and  carried  out  in  cold  blood.  Their  details,  as  pre- 
sented by  Padre  Simon,  show  the  utter  inhumanity  of 
Aguirre  and  the  terror  he  had  inspired  among  his  fol- 
lowers. Among  those  taken  off  at  this  time  were  Dona 
Ines,  Captain  Salduendo,  who  was  conspicuous  in  his 
devotion  to  her,  Alonso  Montoya,  the  admiral  Miguel 
Bodebo,  Gonzalo  Duarte,  Miguel  Serrano,  Baltazar  Cortes 
Cano,  the  chaplain  Alonso  Henao,  and  Fernando  de 
Guzman,  who  had  been  proclaimed  king  of  Peru.1 


1 Sir  Clements  R.  Markham  takes  the  part  of  Castellanos  in  that 
writer’s  chivalrous  defence  of  Dona  Ines.  He  says  : 

“ Castellanos’  version  of  the  bloody  career  of  Aguirre  is  remarkable 
because  he  stands  up  as  the  champion  of  the  unfortunate  lady  who 
accompanied  Ursua,  while  all  other  writers,  whether  they  be  men  of 
the  world,  like  Vasquez  and  Orteguera,  or  greasy  friars,  like  Simon  and 
Piedrahita,  unite  in  heaping  reproaches  and  calumnies  upon  her  . . . 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  287 

The  encampment  where  these  murders  were  committed 
was  called  the  matanza.  Before  the  members  of  the  ex- 
pedition left  the  river,  they  constructed  better  vessels, 
with  which  they  might  venture  upon  the  ocean.  When 
these  were  completed,  they  proceeded  towards  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  For  this  last  stage  of  the  journey,  Aguirre 
had  selected  two  hundred  men,  and  abandoned  the  rest 
to  their  fate,  in  a place  where  there  were  no  available 
means  either  for  escape  or  support.  The  expedition 
passed  out  of  the  river  in  June  1561,  and  shortly  after- 
wards landed  on  the  island  of  Margarita.  Here  Aguirre 
took  as  prisoners  those  persons  who  came  out  to  receive 
him,  killed  Diego  Alvarez  and  the  two  captains,  Gonzalo 
Guiral  de  Fuentes  and  Sancho  Pizarro,  and  gave  up  the 
town  and  royal  treasury  to  be  pillaged. 

In  Venezuela,  Aguirre  pursued  a career  of  unparalleled 
brutality.  He  took  and  sacked  one  town  after  another 
— Burburata,  Tocuyo,  Merida,  Trujillo,  Valencia,  Bar- 
quisimeto — and  murdered  without  compunction  some  of 
his  own  men,  the  officials  and  the  other  inhabitants  of 
the  towns.  While  he  lived  the  inhabitants  of  the  regions 
through  which  he  and  his  bloodthirsty  followers  passed 
were  paralysed  with  terror.1 

The  terror  which  Aguirre  inspired  in  Venezuela  was 
communicated  to  the  inhabitants  of  Bogota.  The  govern- 
ment of  New  Granada  was  at  that  time  in  the  hands  of 
the  audiencia,  and  the  members  were  Grajeda,  Arteaga, 
Angulo,  and  Villafane.  As  they  were  civilians,  without 
military  experience,  they  organised  a junta,  or  committee, 

Castellanos,  like  the  true  gentleman  that  he  evidently  was,  defends 
the  memory  of  the  poor  young  lady,  the  beautiful  young  widow  of  a 
citizen  of  Piura.  . . . The  very  sublimity  of  this  noble  creature’s 
devotion,  which  no  terrors  could  daunt,  no  hardship  damp,  ought  to 
have  protected  her  from  the  cowardly  sneers  of  dirty  friars  and  the 
calumnies  of  gold-seeking  adventurers.” — Markham’s  Introduction  to 
Bollaert’s  translation  of  Simon’s  Sixta  Noticia  Historial,  xxxiv-xxxvi. 

1 Simon,  Las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme,  i.  244-342  (Sexta  Noticia 
Historial).  An  English  translation  of  these  chapters  is  found  in  the 
publications  of  the  Hakluyt  Society.  Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva 
Granada,  i.  128-32;  Baralt  y Diaz,  Historia  de  Venezuela,  i.  213-20; 
Mendiburu,  i.  74-8,  viii.  170-3. 


288  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


of  notables  to  consider  what  acts  should  be  taken  to  avert 
the  impending  danger.  Before  the  junta,  the  oidor, 
Grajeda,  made  a comprehensive  statement  of  the  circum- 
stances in  which  they  were  placed,  of  the  information 
that  had  been  received  concerning  the  number  of  Aguirre’s 
soldiers,  the  outrages  they  had  committed,  and  of  the 
fate  that  awaited  the  inhabitants  of  New  Granada  unless 
effective  measures  for  defence  were  taken. 

Messages  were  sent  to  Cartagena,  Popayan,  Santa 
Marta,  and  other  towns,  requesting  them  to  raise  such 
forces  as  might  be  necessary  to  check  the  invader.  Cap- 
tains were  appointed,  and  the  junta  voted  unanimously 
for  Gonzalo  Jimenez  de  Quesada  as  the  person  best  fitted 
to  hold  the  general  command.  The  anxiety  and  the 
preparations  for  defence  continued  until  the  arrival  of  an 
announcement  of  Aguirre’s  death.  He  had  been  deserted 
by  many  of  his  followers,  and  had  become  convinced  that 
he  had  reached  the  end  of  his  career.  Finding  himself  at 
bay,  he  murdered  his  daughter,  in  order,  as  he  said,  that 
she  might  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  There- 
after he  was  shot  by  his  ourn  men,  and  his  body  was 
delivered  to  Pedro  Bravo,  who  was  leading  the  company 
in  pursuit  of  him.1 

Aside  from  the  fact  that  he  caused  the  untimely  death 
of  a large  number  of  persons,  his  career  is  not  especially 
noteworthy,  except  as  furnishing  an  example  of  extreme 
depravity  and  merciless  brutality.  He  effected  no  im- 
portant change  in  the  public  affairs  of  Venezuela.  In 
its  outward  events,  his  life  after  he  joined  the  expedition 
of  Ursua,  might  be  compared,  on  a large  scale,  with  that 
peculiar  form  of  temporary  madness  known  among  the 
Malays  as  running  amuck.2 

1 Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  127-32  ; Acosta  de  Samper, 
Biografias,  274-87 ; Piedrahita,  lib.  xii.  cap.  viii. 

2 Humbert,  Les  Origines  Vinizudliennes,  38-50  ; Rojas,  Estudios 
historicos,  157  ; Bollaert,  Expedition  of  Pedro  de  Ursua,  Hakluyt  Society 
(London,  1861)  ; Relacion  breve  fecha  por  Pedro  de  Monguia,  in  Doc 
intd..  Col.  of  Torres  de  Mendoza,  iv.  191,  215  ; Oviedo  y Banos,  lib. 


AU  DIE  NCI  A OF  NEW  GRANADA  289 


VI 

The  danger  of  a conflict  with  invaders  disappeared 
with  the  death  of  Lope  de  Aguirre  ; but  a little  later  an 
internal  controversy  arose  between  the  audiencia  and  the 
archbishop.  The  previous  controversy,  in  which  the 
archbishop,  supported  by  the  synod,  attempted  to  pre- 
scribe the  conduct  of  the  encomenderos,  resulted  in  the 
prelate’s  discomfiture  ; but  in  this  instance  he  was  more 
successful.  It  involved  the  question,  whether  the  right 
of  asylum  in  the  cathedral  should  be  respected  by  the 
civil  government.  It  arose  in  connection  with  a priest, 
against  whom  legal  action  had  been  brought  in  Lima. 
The  accused  priest  fled  to  Bogota,  and  at  about  the  time 
of  his  arrival  in  the  city,  the  audiencia  received  a requisi- 
tion, asking  that  he  be  returned  to  Lima  as  a prisoner. 
Without  waiting  to  consult  the  archbishop,  the  audiencia 
issued  an  order  for  his  arrest.  The  priest,  learning  that 
such  an  order  had  been  given,  took  refuge  in  the  cathedral. 
The  audiencia  then  sent  one  of  its  members  to  take  him 
from  his  asylum.  On  entering  the  church,  the  oidor  and 
the  constables  were  met  by  the  archbishop  and  several 
members  of  the  clergy,  who  attempted  to  prevent  the 
proposed  arrest.  The  constables,  however,  put  down  the 
opposition,  unchecked  by  any  respect  for  the  office  or 
dignity  of  those  who  made  it.  As  soon  as  the  criminal 
was  taken  from  the  church,  the  archbishop  put  forth 
demands  for  redress,  and  threatened  the  oidores  with 
ecclesiastical  condemnation.  This  was,  however,  ignored 

iv.  cap.  i.  and  ii. ; Baralt  y Diaz,  i.  cap.  xii.  ; Southey,  R.,  The  Ex- 
pedition of  Ursua  and  Lope  de  Aguirre,  chap.  i. ; Deberle,  Histoire  de 
V Amirique  du  Slid  (1897),  41  ; Ortiguera,  Toribio  de,  Jornada  de 
Rio  Maranon  con  todo  lo  acaecido  en  ella,  y otras  cosas  notables  dignas 
de  ser  sabidas  acaecidas  en  las  Indias  occidentales , in  Nueva  Bib.  de  Aut. 
Esp.,  xv.  305-422  ; Relacion  verdadera  de  todo  lo  que  sucedid  en  la 
jornada  de  Omagua  y Dorado  que  el  gobernador  Pedro  de  Orsua  fui  d 
descubrir  por  poderes  y comisiones  que  le  did  el  visorrey  Marques  de 
Canete,  in  Nueva  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xv.  423-484. 

VOL.  I. 


T 


29o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

by  the  audiencia,  and  the  prelate,  seeing  the  immunities 
of  the  cathedral  violated  without  respect  for  the  traditions 
of  the  Church,  prepared  to  depart  for  Spain  to  present  the 
matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Crown.  This  action  had 
the  desired  effect.  The  people  wrere  aroused  and  alarmed, 
and  the  oidores,  fearing  a popular  uprising,  w'ere  com- 
pelled to  yield.  They  sent  messengers  to  overtake  the 
archbishop,  who  w'ere  charged  to  ask  him  to  return  to  the 
city,  and  to  inform  him  that  the  priest  had  been  restored 
to  the  sanctuary  from  which  the  constables  had  taken  him. 
At  the  same  time  they  were  authorised  to  request  the 
archbishop  to  absolve  them  from  the  censure  of  the  Church. 
This  he  wras  willing  to  do,  but  he  required  the  fiscal  and 
the  oidores  to  undergo  a penance.  When,  therefore, 
they  went  out  of  the  city  to  meet  him,  he  absolved  them, 
and,  as  a penance,  they  w7ere  compelled  to  dismount  and 
return  to  the  city  on  foot.  Thus,  surrounded  by  a great 
crowd  of  the  populace,  they  walked  back  to  the  city,  as 
a part  of  the  triumphal  procession  of  the  returning 
archbishop.1 


VII 

The  antagonism  which  arose  between  the  Church  and 
the  secular  elements  of  society,  after  the  publication  of 
the  constitutiones  of  1556,  manifested  itself  also  in  the 
different  designs  of  the  two  classes  with  respect  to  the 
Indians.  Many  of  the  ecclesiastics  wished  to  secure  for 
the  Indians  a large  measure  of  independence,  sometimes, 
perhaps,  under  entirely  impracticable  conditions  ; while 
the  encomenderos  were  chiefly  concerned  in  securing,  on 
advantageous  terms,  as  complete  control  over  their  ser- 
vices as  possible. 

A prominent  champion  of  the  Indians  in  New  Granada 
w7as  the  Dominican  priest,  San  Luis  Beltran.  He  had 
been  in  Mexico  as  a professor  of  theology ; had  been 
1 Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  138. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  291 

prior  of  several  monasteries  ; and  had  returned  to  Spain 
to  advocate  the  interests  of  the  Indians,  when,  in  1561, 
he  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Popayan.  He  arrived  in 
New  Granada  in  1562,  and  after  the  devoted  labours  of 
seven  years  among  the  Indians  living  between  the  Mag- 
dalena and  the  sierras  of  Santa  Marta,  he  was  recalled  to 
Spain,  “ leaving,”  according  to  Groot,  “ the  archbishop, 
Juan  de  los  Barrios,  the  monks  of  the  monastery,  and  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Bogota  full  of  grief.”  1 

Archbishop  Barrios  died  in  1569,  and  four  years  later 
Luis  Zapata  de  Cardenas  arrived  in  Bogota  as  his  successor. 
Archbishop  Zapata  issued  a catechism,  and  formulated 
certain  constituciones , or  rules,  for  bringing  the  natives  to 
a knowledge  of  the  Catholic  faith,  as  well  as  for  making 
them  acquainted  with  some  of  the  forms  and  customs  of 
civilised  life.  These  rules  were  designed  also  to  serve  as 
instructions  for  the  ecclesiastics,  prescribing  their  conduct, 
and  specifying  what  they  might  properly  require  of  the 
Indians  under  their  guidance.2  Zapata  died  in  1590,  and 
the  archiepiscopal  see  remained  vacant  for  nine  years,  until 
the  appointment  of  Bartelome  Lobo  Guerrero,  in  1599. 
In  the  intervening  years  three  appointments  were  made 
before  Lobo  Guerrero  was  named.  Two  of  these,  Alonso 
Lopez  de  Avila,  Archbishop  of  Santa  Domingo,  and 
Bartelome  Martinez  Menacho,  Bishop  of  Panama,  died 
before  they  were  able  to  enter  upon  their  duties.  A third, 
Andres  Caso,  when  about  to  go  to  Bogota,  accepted  an- 
other appointment. 

The  reputation  gained  by  some  members  of  the  clergy, 
and  their  uncompromising  attitude  towards  secular  affairs, 
often  placed  the  civil  government  in  serious  embarrass- 
ment. This  was  the  case  when  this  government  was 
conducted  by  an  audiencia  as  a collegiate  executive.  It 

1 Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  137. 

2 Extracts  from  the  constituciones  of  Archbishop  Zapata  are  printed 
as  Appendix  No.  4,  in  Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  507-16, 
who  describes  them  as  “ precioso  monumento  de  nuestras  antigiiedades 
eclesiasticas  ” (Ibid.,  p.  153). 


292  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

might  happen  that  a part  of  the  members  would  be  under 
the  domination  of  ecclesiastical  ideas,  thus  establishing 
in  the  body  a breach  which  rational  arguments  could  not 
heal ; for  men  frequently  hold  most  tenaciously  to  views 
which  cannot  be  supported  by  either  known  facts  or  by 
arguments  designed  to  appeal  to  their  logical  faculties. 
In  New  Granada,  the  supreme  local  authority  was  vested 
in  the  audiencia  from  1550  till  1564,  when  Andres  Diaz 
Venero  de  Leiva  arrived  in  Bogota,  appointed  to  be  the 
first  President-Governor  and  Captain-General.  He  had 
been  Fiscal  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  and  in  his  newoffice 
he  was  clothed  with  the  essential  rights  and  prerogatives 
of  a viceroy.  His  knowledge  of  American  affairs  derived 
through  his  connection  with  the  Council  enabled  him  to 
conduct  the  business  of  his  government  without  neglecting 
the  temporal  interests  or  antagonising  the  Church. 


VIII 

It  devolved  upon  the  first  President  of  New  Granada 
to  close  the  breach  between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
branches  of  the  government,  and  this  he  was  in  a large 
measure  able  to  accomplish  by  reason  of  his  sympathy 
with  the  designs  and  purposes  of  the  Church.  Already 
many  towns  had  been  established,  and  these  had  contri- 
buted to  the  formation  of  peaceful  relations  with  many 
of  the  native  tribes  ; and  now,  in  the  period  of  Venero 
de  Leiva’s  administration,  much  attention  was  given  to 
the  organisation  of  religious  houses  in  these  towns.  This 
work  was  furthered  by  the  royal  decree  of  December  6, 
1556,  through  which  it  was  ordered  that  Dominican 
monasteries  might  be  founded  wherever  they  were  be- 
lieved to  be  necessary.  It  was,  moreover,  required  that 
the  expenses  involved  in  these  foundations  should  be 
borne  by  the  royal  treasury,  where  the  natives  were  held 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  293 

immediately  under  the  Crown,  but  by  the  encomenderos 
where  the  Indians  had  been  subjected  to  them.1 

The  harmony  maintained  between  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  branches  of  the  government  permitted  the 
president  effectively  to  carry  on  the  work  of  administra- 
tion. He  secured  the  execution  of  the  laws  and  ordinances 
respecting  the  alcaldes,  the  corregidores,  and  the  police. 
He  regulated  work  in  the  gold  mines  and  in  the  emerald 
mines  of  Mozo ; opened  and  repaired  roads  ; built  bridges  ; 
substituted  beasts  of  burden  for  Indians  in  the  transpor- 
tation of  goods  ; and  encouraged  the  natives  to  devote 
themselves  to  agriculture.  He  provided  for  official  in- 
terpreters, through  whom  the  Indians  might  bring  their 
complaints  to  the  government  ; regulated  the  proceedings 
of  the  audiencia  so  that  justice  might  be  properly  adminis- 
tered ; and  reformed  the  administration  of  the  royal 
treasury.  Hitherto  the  gold  that  had  been  used  in  ex- 
change had  circulated  in  its  crude  form,  or  as  gold  dust ; 
but  the  president  sought  to  set  aside  the  inconveniences 
of  this  medium  of  exchange,  by  causing  the  gold  to  be 
coined,  or  officially  stamped,  and  by  prohibiting  trans- 
actions with  unminted  gold.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils 
of  absenteeism,  he  required  the  encomenderos  to  live  in 
the  districts  where  they  held  encomiendas.  After  con- 
ducting the  affairs  of  New  Granada  successfully  for  ten 
years,  President  Venero  de  Leiva  returned  to  Spain,  in 
1573,  and  resumed  his  former  office  of  Fiscal  of  the  Council 
of  the  Indies.2 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  President  Venero  established 
primaiy  schools  for  both  the  children  of  the  natives 
and  of  Europeans,  but  very  little  was  done  towards  pro- 
viding instruction  in  New  Granada  before  or  during  his 
term  of  office.  Bishop  Loayza  formed  a plan  for  the 
instruction  of  the  sons  of  caciques,  and  received  a royal 

1 A number  of  laws  relating  to  the  president  in  his  relations  with  the 
members  of  the  audiencia  may  be  consulted  in  Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  ii. 
tit.  xvi. 

2 Groot,  Historia  de  Ntteva  Granada,  i.  145. 


294  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

licence  permitting  him  to  establish  a school  for  that  pur- 
pose ; but  before  he  was  able  to  carry  out  this  plan,  he 
was  transferred  to  the  newly-formed  diocese  of  Lima. 
By  a decree  of  April  27,  1554,  the  Spanish  Crown  sought 
to  provide  instruction  for  the  Indians.  It  was  thus  the 
desire  to  instruct  the  natives  that  prompted  the  first  two 
efforts  to  found  schools  in  New  Granada.  A little  later, 
in  I555»  a decree  was  issued  to  provide  instruction  for 
Spanish  orphans  and  mestizos.  These  decrees,  however, 
proved  to  be  only  resolutions  of  good  intentions  ; for  it 
was  not  until  1576,  more  than  twenty  years  later,  that  the 
first  school  was  actually  founded.  This  appears  to  have 
been  a secular  institution,  but  it  was  not  long  maintained.1 

On  the  withdrawal  of  President  Venero,  the  adminis- 
tration fell  into  the  hands  of  the  audiencia,  viro  conducted 
it  for  about  two  years,  until  the  arrival  of  Francisco 
Briceno,  the  second  president,  in  March  1575.  Briceno 
had  been  an  oidor  in  Bogota,  in  1553,  and  had  later  held 
the  office  of  president  in  Guatemala.  He  died  suddenly 
in  December,  a few  months  after  he  reached  Bogota,  and 
left  the  oidores  again  in  control  of  the  government. 
Under  the  audiencia,  instead  of  the  internal  peace  of  the 

1 Vergara,  Historia  de  la  LiteraUira  en  Nueva  Granada,  61.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  the  judgments  of  some  of  the  early  writers  con- 
cerning President  Venero.  Juan  Rodriguez  Fresle,  writing  in  1636, 
says  : " El  presidente  mantenia  a todos  en  paz  y justicia ; ponia 
gran  calor  en  la  conversion  de  los  naturales,  mandindolos  poblar  juntos 
en  sus  pueblos,  fomentando  las  iglesias  de  ellos.  Envio  un  oidor  de  la 
Real  Audiencia  a.  visitar  la  tierra  y 4 dar  calor  a la  poblazon  de  ios 
naturales,  y a defenderlos  y desagraviarlos.  Fue  muy  agradable  el 
tiempo  de  su  gobierno,  y llamdronle  el  ' siglo  dorado.’  ” — Conqnista  del 
Nuevo  Reino  de  Granada,  51.  Padre  Zamora,  in  his  Historia  de  la 
Provincia  Dominicana  de  San  Antonio,  refers  to  the  fact  that  all  of 
the  ecclesiastics  thought  of  him  as  the  Padre  del  Nueva  Granada  ; 
but  Gonzalo  Jimenez  de  Quesada,  in  his  Cotnpendio  Historial,  says, 
" Qne  Venero  fue  hombre  rencoroso  y vengativo  ; que  tuvo  compe- 
tencias  con  los  frailes  dominicanos,  y que  las  ultimas  fueron  tales,  que 
publicamente  lo  llamaron  Destructor  del  Nuevo  Reino.”  Undoubtedly 
the  unpleasant  personal  relations  that  existed  between  the  disappointed 
explorer  and  the  president  had  much  influence  in  determining  Quesada’s 
opinion. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  295 

preceding  period,  there  were  conflicts  with  the  archbishop, 
and  complaints  about  the  despotic  rule  of  the  oidores, 
until,  finally,  in  1578,  they  were  superseded  by  the  new 
president,  Lope  Diaz  Aux  de  Armendariz. 

In  1579,  the  inhabitants  of  Bogota  had  reason  to  turn 
away  from  the  disgraceful  internal  quarrels  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  mark  the  death  of  Gonzalo  Jimenez  de  Quesada. 
Forty  years  before  he  had  led  the  survivors  of  his  great 
expedition  up  through  the  tropical  wilderness,  and  here 
laid  the  foundation  of  Bogota  ; and  now  that  the  stormy 
life  of  the  old  explorer  was  ended,  the  monks,  the  secular 
clergy,  the  president,  the  judges  of  the  audiencia,  the 
members  of  the  other  tribunals,  and  men  of  every  sort 
turned  from  their  ordinary  occupations  to  unite  in  doing 
honour  to  their  hero,  and  to  place  over  his  grave  the 
standard  of  the  conquest. 

The  circumstances  of  the  officials  at  the  capital  were 
not  favourable  for  the  maintenance  of  internal  peace. 
These  officials  constituted  a small  company,  more  or  less 
apart  from  the  society  of  the  town.  They  suffered  the 
evils  incident  to  a little  isolated  community  : they  be- 
came the  victims  of  jealousy  and  mutual  hatred,  which 
manifested  themselves  not  only  in  attempts  to  defeat 
the  practical  projects  which  one  or  another  designed  to 
carry  out  in  the  work  of  his  office,  but  also  in  efforts  to 
undermine  the  characters  of  their  opponents  through 
correspondence  with  the  king  or  the  Council  of  the  Indies. 
Suspicions  thus  aroused  in  the  minds  of  the  authorities 
in  Spain  led  to  the  appointment  of  visitadores  at  ir- 
regular intervals,  who,  as  already  suggested,  were  often 
quite  as  vicious  as  the  officials  they  were  sent  to  inves- 
tigate. Thus  the  institution  of  the  visitador,  which  was 
designed  to  furnish  a legal  check  on  the  conduct  of  the 
president,  the  judges,  or  any  other  officer  who  might  be 
indicated  in  instructions,  proved  not  infrequently  to  be 
only  an  additional  source  of  local  disturbance  and  social 
demoralisation.  It  sometimes  happened  that  a visi- 


296  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

tador,  returning  to  Spain,  took  back  with  him  as  prisoners 
not  only  the  visitador  who  had  been  sent  out  before  him, 
but  also  a number  of  the  officials  into  whose  public  con- 
duct he  had  been  commissioned  to  inquire.  The  affairs 
of  the  higher  officials  at  Bogota  at  this  period  present  a 
case  of  serious  confusion,  which  was  aggravated  by  scan- 
dals, in  which  two  or  three  of  the  especially  prominent 
women  of  the  community  were  involved. 

The  events  of  the  last  two  decades  of  the  century  in- 
dicate that,  with  respect  to  its  social  affairs,  the  kingdom 
had  approached  very  near  anarchy.  The  audiencia  had 
suspended  President  Armendariz,  and  the  antagonism 
between  the  visitador,  Orellana,  and  the  oidores  of  the 
audiencia  had  produced  a division  of  the  inhabitants  into 
two  parties  ; one  party  supported  the  visitador,  and  the 
other  took  the  part  of  the  audiencia.  There  were  not 
wanting,  moreover,  persons  to  make  misrepresentations 
to  one  party  or  the  other,  and  the  influence  of  these  was 
to  widen  the  breach  between  them.  The  division  ex- 
tended beyond  the  city,  and  persons  who  came  from  the 
neighbouring  towns  immediately  ranged  themselves  on 
one  side  or  the  other.  The  audiencia  undertook  to  depose 
the  visitador,  and  that  officer  in  turn  proclaimed  the 
suspension  of  the  oidores.  Each  party  had  a small  armed 
force  at  command,  and  not  much  was  wanting  to  pre- 
cipitate active  hostilities.  At  this  point  the  archbishop 
appeared  on  the  scene  and  asserted  his  medieval  preten- 
tions. He  required  soldiers  to  lay  down  their  arms  and 
withdraw  from  the  contest,  and  threatened  excommunica- 
tion in  case  of  refusal.  Although  his  first  attempt  to  avert 
the  struggle  which  seemed  to  be  impending  was  without 
effect,  now  that  it  was  proposed  to  launch  the  thunderbolt 
of  divine  wrath,  it  was  thought  by  those  w'ho  were  ready 
for  war  that  the  time  had  come  to  run  for  cover ; and 
within  an  hour  not  a man  was  to  be  found  in  the  plaza, 
where  the  forces  of  the  audiencia  had  been  assembled.1 

1 Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  178-80. 


AUDIENCI A OF  NEW  GRANADA  297 

This  political  comedy  had  a not  unusual  tragic  ending. 
President  Armendariz  continued  under  suspension  until 
his  death,  in  1584.  Orellana,  the  visitador,  suspended 
Perez  de  Salazar  and  Gaspar  de  Peralta,  the  two  oidores 
who  appeared  to  him  especially  obnoxious  ; and  took 
them,  together  with  the  secretary,  Francisco  Velasquez, 
to  Spain  as  prisoners.  The  Council  of  the  Indies  disap- 
proved of  these  arrests,  and  sent  Orellana  himself  to  prison, 
where  he  died  without  property.  Secretary  Velasquez, 
whom  he  had  imprisoned,  paid  the  expenses  of  his  burial. 
The  oidores  were  exonerated.  Salazar  became  the  Fiscal 
of  the  Council,  and  Peralta  was  restored  to  his  place  as 
member  of  the  audiencia  of  Bogota.1 

These  internal  quarrels,  which  left  the  civil  govern- 
ment more  or  less  discredited,  gave  the  archbishop  an 
opportunity  to  magnify  his  importance.  He  sought  to 
complete  the  cathedral,  in  order  that  the  ceremonies  of 
worship  might  acquire  a greater  splendour,  and  the 
authorities  of  the  Church  thereby  greater  prestige.  He 
celebrated  a Provincial  Council,  in  order  through  it  to 
fix  the  discipline  of  the  Church  ; and  by  providing  for 
the  proper  education  of  priests,  he  hoped  to  increase 
their  influence  in  public  affairs.  The  refusal  of  the  Bishop 
of  Popayan  to  attend  the  Council,  on  the  ground  that 
his  bishopric  did  not  lie  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Bogota,  gave  rise  to  an  ecclesiastical  con- 
troversy, which,  taken  together  with  the  disposition  of 
the  bishops  to  quarrel  with  the  provincial  governors, 
helped  at  least  to  avert  social  stagnation.2 

While  the  interior  settlements,  in  spite  of  their  local 
quarrels,  were  slowly  advancing  towards  civilisation, 
some  of  the  towns  on  the  coast  suffered  great  losses 
through  the  assaults  and  plundering  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
and  his  piratical  followers.  At  Riohacha,  in  1585,  Drake 

1 Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada,  i.  180. 

2 Ibid.,  i.  1 81. 


298  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


obtained  a large  quantity  of  pearls,  and  then  burned  the 
town.  In  December  of  the  same  year,  he  entered  Santa 
Marta,  which  he  sacked  and  burned.  On  the  9th  of 
February  of  the  following  year,  he  appeared  before 
Cartagena  with  nineteen  ships,  flying  the  black  flag,  and 
threatening  war  to  the  death.  A month  before  this  date 
the  inhabitants  had  been  informed  from  Santo  Domingo 
of  Drake’s  proposed  attack,  and  prepared  for  such  resist- 
ance as  they  were  able  to  make.  But  this  was  not 
effective,  and  for  forty-eight  days  Drake  held  the  city. 
From  certain  negroes  he  learned  where  the  gold,  silver, 
pearls,  and  jewellery  were  concealed,  great  quantities  of 
which  he  carried  off.  He  took  also  eighty  pieces  of 
artillery  and  the  bells  of  all  the  churches.  When  he  was 
able  to  find  nothing  more,  he  demanded  four  hundred 
thousand  ducats  as  a ransom  for  the  city.  At  a con- 
ference between  Drake  and  a committee  of  the  citizens, 
this  sum  was  scaled  to  one  hundred  and  seven  thousand 
pesos,  which  was  paid  in  money,  pearls,  and  jewellery. 
Drake’s  receipt  for  this  amount  was  dated  April  2,  1586. 
The  monastery  and  the  slaughter-house  were  outside  of 
the  city,  and  Drake  affirmed  that  these  were  not  covered 
by  the  ransom  paid,  and  that  they  would  be  burned 
unless  an  additional  sum  was  advanced.  The  monks 
were,  therefore,  obliged  to  pay  one  thousand  pesos,  and 
give  up  four  bells ; while  Alonso  Hidalgo  Bravo,  the 
owner  of  the  slaughter-house,  paid  five  thousand  pesos, 
for  which  he  received  a receipt  executed  in  proper  form. 
The  spoils  from  Cartagena  amounted  to  about  four  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  But  this  plundering  of  the  coast 
of  New  Granada  was  not  wholly  disadvantageous  to  the 
colonies.  It  spread  abroad  the  fame  of  the  country’s 
riches,  which  stimulated  immigration  and  a consequent 
rapid  increase  of  the  population.1 

In  spite  of  the  imperfect  police  control  in  the  kingdom, 
thieving  was  not  an  especially  frequent  crime.  One  of 
1 Rodriguez  Fresle,  111-13  I Groot,  i.  186-89. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  299 

the  residents  of  Bogota,  Captain  Talens,  had,  therefore, 
reason  to  be  surprised  when  masked  burglars  appeared 
at  his  bedside  one  night,  and,  with  their  daggers  ready 
to  strike,  demanded  the  keys  to  the  desk  where  he  was 
known  to  keep  a large  amount  of  money.  He  surrendered 
the  keys,  and  the  thieves  took  the  money  and  departed. 
No  investigations  could  discover  the  burglars,  or  deter- 
mine their  identity,  and  no  one  was  arrested.  The  captain 
had  adjusted  himself  to  his  poverty,  when  three  years 
later  the  burglars  appeared  again.  He  saw  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  defend  himself  against  them,  and 
he  told  them  that  he  had  nothing,  because  some  persons 
who  looked  like  them  had  visited  him  previously  and 
carried  off  everything  he  had.  “ We  are  the  same  per- 
sons,” they  replied,  “ but  we  do  not  come  to  carry  away 
anything,  rather  to  bring  back  that  which  we  then  took,  to- 
gether with  its  proper  interest.  It  was  necessary  for  us 
at  that  time  to  resort  to  this  means,  in  order  to  enter  upon 
a certain  commercial  enterprise,  not  having  any  other 
resource  ; but  always  with  the  intention  of  returning  the 
money  to  you.”  Having  said  this,  the  burglars  retired, 
leaving  the  money  on  the  table.1 

After  the  suspension  of  President  Armendariz  and  the 
oidores,  Salazar  and  Peralta,  the  government  of  Bogota 
was  conducted  by  Chaparro,  the  remaining  member  of 
the  audiencia,  until  the  arrival  of  the  new  president, 
Antonio  Gonzalez.  Gonzalez  had  been  a member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Indies,  and  arrived  in  Bogota  in  1590, 
accompanied  by  Gaspar  de  Peralta,  who  had  been  restored 
to  his  place  in  the  audiencia  after  Orellana  had  arrested 
him  and  taken  him  to  Spain.  President  Gonzalez  was 
also  accompanied  by  Francisco  Victoria  and  Antonio 
Linero,  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  a lay  brother 
of  the  same  order.  These  were  the  first  Jesuits  to  enter 
New  Granada.  They  were  taken  to  Bogota  for  the 
purpose  of  founding  a school ; but  Archbishop  Zapata 
1 Groot,  i.  192. 


3oo  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

died  in  1590,  the  year  in  which  they  reached  the  city,  and 
they  retired  from  the  field  with  nothing  accomplished. 

Under  orders,  and  with  authority  conferred  by  the 
king,  the  president  issued  ordinances  for  the  corregidores 
of  natives.  These  officers  were  agents  of  the  government, 
appointed  to  protect  the  Indians,  and  to  secure  for  them 
such  treatment  as  would  induce  them  to  accept  the 
teachings  of  the  Church  and  adopt  the  ways  of  civilised 
life.  They  were  expected  to  exercise  an  influence  that 
would  limit  the  arbitrary  acts  of  the  encomenderos, 
whose  object  w’as  to  derive  the  maximum  advantage 
from  the  labour  of  the  Indians.  Under  the  president’s 
ordinances  the  encomenderos  wrere  prohibited  from  forcing 
the  Indians  to  urork  for  them  on  their  estates  ; they  might 
receive  the  services  of  the  natives  only  in  case  the  natives 
were  willing  to  work,  and  then  on  condition  of  paying 
them  usages,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
royal  decrees.  The  corregidores  of  natives  were,  more- 
over, prohibited  from  trading  with  the  Indians,  and  from 
holding  estates  within  the  limits  of  their  jurisdiction  as 
corregidores.1 

Another  reform  proposed  by  President  Gonzalez  was 
the  introduction  of  the  alcabala,  a tax  imposed  on  the 
price  of  articles  at  the  time  of  their  sale.  This  project 
wras  met  with  vigorous  resistance,  and  the  community  was 
threatened  with  a revolt  like  that  winch  appeared  in 
Quito  at  this  time,  provoked  by  the  same  cause.  But, 
at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  an  argument  in  favour 
of  the  tax,  made  by  the  distinguished  Dominican  friar, 
Pedro  Bedon,  allayed  the  dissatisfaction,  and  removed 
most  of  the  objections  to  the  collection  of  the  tax.  But 
the  recommendation  of  the  friar  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing, the  alcabala  was  an  obnoxious  impost.  It 

1 Groot,  i.  200-2.  The  more  important  parts  of  President  Gonzilez’s 
Ordinances  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of  the  Corregidores 
of  the  Natives  are  printed  in  Groot,  Historia  de  Nueva  Granada , i.  516- 
20,  constituting  Appendix  No.  5. 


AUDIENCIA  OF  NEW  GRANADA  301 

hindered  the  transfer  of  goods,  and  thus,  by  tending  to 
discourage  buying  and  selling,  it  contributed  to  that 
commercial  stagnation,  which  was  a more  or  less  pro- 
minent characteristic  of  Spanish  civilisation  in  America. 

Gonzalez  held  the  post  of  governor  for  seven  years, 
and  during  this  period  he  founded  a number  of  towns  : 
San  Juan  de  Isima,  San  Juan  de  Pedrosa,  Nueva  Cordova, 
Nueva  Sevilla,  Becerril  de  Campos,  and  San  Agustin  de 
Avila  ; but  towns  founded  in  this  manner,  by  administra- 
tive caprice,  might  or  might  not  be  needed.  For  these 
there  was  no  permanent  demand,  and  they  were  all  later 
abandoned.  More  foresight  appears  to  have  been  dis- 
played in  conquering  the  region  at  the  rapids  of  the 
Magdalena  and  establishing  Honda  there  as  a port  for 
the  capital.  Gonzalez  resigned  the  presidency  in  1597, 
and  was  appointed  Fiscal  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies.1 

The  sixteenth  century  closed  during  the  administration 
of  Francisco  de  Sande,  the  successor  of  President  Gonzalez. 


Rodriguez  Fresle,  115-22  ; Groot,  i.  199-207. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


GIRON’S  REBELLION  AND  THE  REIGN  OF  THE 
MARQUIS  OF  CA&ETE 

I.  Ecclesiastical  changes.  II.  Anarchy.  III.  Hernandez  Giron’s  re- 
bellion. IV.  Andres  Hurtado  do  Mendoza  and  Sairi-Tupac. 

I 

The  slow  development  of  New  Granada  in  the  last  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century  was  due  to  many  causes  : to  the 
unfavourable  climatic  conditions  of  the  coast ; to  the 
difficulty  of  reaching  the  interior  highlands  of  Bogota  ; 
to  the  absence  of  any  important  sources  of  wealth  ; and 
to  the  superior  attractions  offered  by  the  fabulous  riches 
of  Peru.  The  marvellous  story  of  Atahualpa’s  ransom 
had  not  ceased  to  excite  the  avaricious  before  Potosi  and 
other  mines  of  Upper  Peru  began  to  pour  forth  their  ap- 
parently inexhaustible  treasures. 

The  mines  of  Potosi  had  been  worked  for  six  years 
when  the  second  Viceroy  of  Peru,  Antonio  de  Mendoza, 
arrived  in  Lima,  September  23,  1551.  For  fifteen  years 
he  had  been  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  and  now,  near  the 
end  of  his  life,  he  undertook  reluctantly  the  task  of  re- 
storing peace  and  order  to  the  troubled  society  of  Peru. 
During  his  brief  administration  of  somewhat  less  than 
ten  months,  the  bishopric  of  Chuquesaca  was  created, 
the  University  of  Lima  was  founded  in  the  Dominican 
monastery,  and  the  order  of  St.  Augustine  was  estab- 
lished in  Lima.  The  first  code  of  judicial  procedure  for 
Peru  was  issued  by  Mendoza,  and  in  this  document  were 
established  rules  fixing  the  jurisdiction  and  functions  of 
the  various  judicial  officers  and  attaches  of  the  courts.1 

1 Doc.  intd.,  viii.  55. 

302 


GIRON’S  REBELLION 


303 


During  the  period  of  Mendoza’s  administration,  more- 
over, was  held  the  first  Provincial  Council  in  Peru.  It 
was  convoked  by  Archbishop  Loayza.  The  regulations 
drawn  up  by  this  assembly  constituted  the  first  ecclesi- 
astical ordinances  formulated  in  South  America.  But, 
as  they  were  not  enforced,  they  are  important  chiefly  as 
indicating  the  rules  that  were  approved  by  the  Church, 
to  govern  its  treatment  of  the  Indians.1 

The  burden  of  the  government  was  too  heavy  for  the 
failing  strength  of  the  viceroy.  He  died  July  21,  1552, 
and  his  body  was  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  Lima.2 


II 

On  the  death  of  Mendoza,  the  supreme  governmental 
authority  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  the  audiencia.  The 
state  of  affairs  had  not  been  greatly  improved  either  by 
the  audiencia  during  its  previous  rule  or  by  the  efforts  of 
the  viceroy.  The  population  of  Upper  Peru  was  in- 
creasing rapidly  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  principal  towns,  through  their 
easily  and  rapidly  acquired  wealth,  were  able  to  establish 
very  early  many  of  the  prominent  features  of  civilisation  ; 
and  the  extensive  revenues  of  some  of  the  residents 
enabled  them  to  engage  in  enterprises  that  involved 
large  expenses,  some  of  which  were  directed  against  the 
legitimate  government.  In  fact,  during  the  years  about 
the  middle  of  the  century,  no  government  had  a firm  hold 
on  the  people,  and  after  the  departure  of  Pedro  de  la 
Gasca,  the  very  foundations  of  social  order  appeared  to 
be  broken  up.  From  the  beginning  of  the  conflict  be- 
tween Pizarro  and  Almagro  to  the  overthrow  and  death 

1 The  substance  of  these  rules  is  presented  by  Lorente,  Historia 
del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  1542-98,  210-13  ; Lizarraga, 
Reginaldo  de,  Descripcion  breve  de  toda  la  tierra  del  Peru,  Tucuman, 
Rio  de  la  Plata , y Chile  (Nueva  Bib.  de  Aut.  Esp.,  xv.),  lib.  ii.  cap.  ii. 

2 Mendiburu,  v.  254. 


3o4  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

of  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  the  inhabitants  of  Upper  Peru  had 
at  all  times  reason  to  be  in  doubt  with  respect  to  the 
authority  to  whom  their  allegiance  was  properly  due. 
This  state  of  things  fostered  discontent  with  any  govern- 
ment that  happened  for  the  time  being  to  be  dominant. 
The  general  dissatisfaction  with  Gasca’s  distribution  of 
encomiendas  and  the  restriction  imposed  on  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Indians  intensified  this  discontent  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  conspiracies  and  rebellion.  After 
Gasca’s  departure,  the  supreme  power  was  nominally 
exercised  by  the  audiencia,  but  practically  the  greater 
part  of  the  kingdom  was  in  a state  of  political  chaos.  A 
band  of  conspirators,  led  by  Sebastian  de  Castilla,  mur- 
dered Hinojosa,  the  Corregidor  of  La  Plata,  May  6,  1553. 
After  Hinojosa’s  death,  Egas  de  Guzman  led  a revolt  in 
Potosi.  He  met  with  little  resistance,  but  he  killed  a 
number  of  persons,  imprisoned  the  royal  officials,  plun- 
dered the  royal  treasury,  and  carried  off,  it  is  said,  more 
than  a million  pesos.  Guzman  formed  a government  for 
Potosi,  named  officials  and  employees,  appointed  Antonio 
Lujan  alcalde,  and  organised  a body  of  soldiers.1 

There  was  apparently  no  safety  for  anyone.  Five 
days  after  the  death  of  Hinojosa,  Sebastian  de  Castilla, 
the  leader  of  the  conspirators  who  had  committed  the 
murder,  was  assassinated.  When  Lujan  learned,  through 
a letter  from  Juan  Gonz&lez,  that  Castilla  had  been  killed 
by  those  who  had  favoured  him  and  had  given  him  his 
position,  he  resolved  to  accede  to  the  suggestion  that  he 
should  kill  Guzman,  who  had  appointed  him  to  be  the 
alcalde  of  Potosi.  Guzman  was  consequently  arrested, 
placed  in  irons,  and  finally,  by  the  order  of  Vasco  Godinez, 
was  dragged  through  the  streets  and  quartered. 

As  a part  of  the  reactionary  movement  which  followed 
the  revolt  in  La  Plata  and  Potosi,  the  audiencia  appointed 
Marshal  Alvarado  to  be  the  Corregidor,  Justicia-Mayor, 
and  Captain-General  of  Charcas.  At  the  same  time  the 

1 Mendiburu,  iv.  218  ; v.  97. 


GIRON’S  REBELLION 


305 


audiencia  authorised  him  to  raise  troops,  take  funds  from 
the  royal  treasury,  and  subdue  and  punish  the  disturbers 
of  the  peace.  He  carried  out  his  instructions  with  such 
rigour  that  he  became  known  by  many  persons  as  Nero. 
In  La  Paz  and  Potosi  he  applied  with  merciless  severity 
the  laws  against  the  promoters  of  sedition.  Vasco 
Godinez,  who  had  appropriated  the  repartimiento  of  Hino- 
josa, hoped  to  escape  punishment  on  account  of  his  con- 
duct with  respect  to  Egas  de  Guzman ; but,  through  an 
examination  of  his  nefarious  conduct,  his  position  and 
character  appeared  in  their  true  light,  and  he  was  made 
to  suffer  the  punishment  which  he  had  caused  to  be  in- 
flicted on  Guzman.  For  five  months  nearly  every  day 
had  its  victims,  who  were  taken  out  of  the  crowded  prisons 
to  be  executed  on  the  gallows  or  publicly  flogged.  But 
the  severity  of  Alvarado’s  measures  did  not  allay  the 
general  discontent.  All  respect  for  life,  law,  or  property 
appeared  to  be  broken  down,  and  the  inhabitants  were 
apparently  ready  for  a general  rebellion.  When,  there- 
fore, Francisco  Hernandez  Giron  raised  the  standard  of 
revolt,  he  found  followers  everywhere.1 

Ill 

Francisco  Hernandez  Giron,  born  at  C&rceres  in 
Estramadura,  had  accompanied  Gutierrez  to  Vergara  in 
3:535,  and,  on  the  failure  of  that  enterprise,  went  with  him 
to  Peru.  He  served  with  Aldana  in  Popayan,  was 
appointed  a captain  in  the  service  of  Blasco  Nunez  Vela, 
and  fell  into  the  hands  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro’s  forces  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  at  the  battle  of  Anaquito.  Under  Gasca 
he  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Jaquijaguana.  Like 
many  others,  he  was  dissatisfied  with  Gasca’s  distribu- 
tion of  rewards,  although  he  had  received  the  reparti- 
miento of  Jaquijaguana,  which  produced  for  him  an 
annual  income  of  nine  thousand  Castellanos.  Gasca  com- 

1 Lorente,  Hisloria  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  223-6. 
Fernandez,  Hisloria  del  Peru,  parte  ii.  lib.  ii.  cap.  xxiv.-xlvi.,  liii.-Ix. 

VOL.  I.  U 


3o6  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

missioned  him  to  command  an  expedition  to  the  territory 
of  the  Chunchos,  and  authorised  him  to  enlist  soldiers 
and  take  such  other  measures  as  might  be  necessary  in 
preparing  for  the  conquest.  When  he  appeared  with  his 
soldiers  in  Cuzco,  the  citizens  protested  against  his  presence 
with  a body  of  armed  followers,  and  his  later  attitude 
towards  the  authorities  justified  their  fears.  He  was 
arrested  and  condemned  to  death,  but  the  sentence  was 
not  confirmed.  He  was  sent  to  Lima,  where  the  audiencia 
took  his  side  in  the  controversy,  set  him  free  under  bail, 
and  permitted  him  to  return  to  Cuzco.  He  had  no  in- 
tention of  proceeding  against  the  Chunchos,  and  wished 
to  use  his  authority  to  enlist  soldiers  simply  to  provide 
for  his  proposed  insurrection.  At  Cuzco,  the  knowledge 
that  his  conduct  was  under  investigation  by  Alvarado, 
and  that  an  order  for  his  imprisonment  might  appear  at 
any  moment,  made  him  desperate,  and  persuaded  him  of 
the  necessity  of  immediate  action. 

The  audiencia,  endowed  with  only  transitory  authority, 
was  lacking  both  in  prestige  and  efficiency  ; and  there  was 
a rare  combination  of  circumstances,  which  made  for 
unrest  and  disorder  : the  great  distances  between  the 
towns  ; the  difficulties  of  communication  ; the  large  body 
of  Indians  trained  to  submission,  and  as  willing  to  serve 
one  party  as  another  ; the  ambition  of  the  con quist adores 
to  rule,  and  their  reluctance  to  submit  to  law  ; soldiers 
whose  chief  desire  was  for  spoils  or  repartimientos  as 
rewards  for  services  ; priests  who  preached  peace,  but 
who  were  not  unwilling  to  take  part  in  conflicts  ; the 
dissatisfaction  caused  by  rewards  bestowed  by  Gasca  on 
persons  who  had  joined  his  ranks  after  they  had  aban- 
doned the  cause  of  Pizarro  ; and  the  fighting  habit  that 
had  been  engendered  in  the  civil  wars.1  All  these  facts 
were  elements  of  a social  state,  in  which  peace,  order,  and 
a healthy  progressive  movement  were  temporarily  quite 
out  of  the  question. 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  divastia  austriaea,  228. 


GIRON’S  REBELLION 


3 °7 


After  Hernandez  Giron  had  initiated  the  revolt  at 
Cuzco  and  taken  possession  of  the  town,  he  found  in  the 
house  of  the  corregidor  a number  of  decrees  that  had 
been  framed  by  the  audiencia ; and  knowing  that  they 
were  obnoxious  to  the  encomenderos  and  the  soldiers,  he 
caused  them  to  be  published,  expecting  by  their  publica- 
tion to  turn  many  persons  against  the  existing  rule  of  the 
audiencia,  and  thus  induce  them  to  support  his  under- 
taking. His  design,  he  affirmed,  was  not  to  obtain  any 
personal  advantage,  but  to  liberate  the  country  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  oidores.  Having  accomplished  this,  he 
would  return  willingly  to  private  life.  Other  evidence 
points  to  a desire  on  his  part  to  place  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  government  of  Peru. 

By  a judicious  distribution  of  twelve  thousand  pesos 
taken  from  the  royal  treasury  and  by  various  other  means, 
he  succeeded  in  bringing  together  at  Cuzco  a force  of  four 
hundred  men.  In  order  to  induce  others  to  take  part  in 
his  enterprise,  he  sent  letters  to  the  cabildos  of  the  towns, 
and  to  the  principal  captains  and  ecclesiastics  ; he  even 
wrote  to  the  wife  of  Marshal  Alvarado,  asking  her  to 
persuade  her  husband  to  abandon  the  royal  service,  and 
to  support  the  cause  which  Giron  represented  as  the  cause 
of  the  people.  He  not  only  made  great  offers  to  the 
marshal  for  his  adherence,  but  also  pointed  out  to  him 
the  dangers  he  would  encounter  in  pursuing  any  other 
course.  From  some  of  the  towns  he  received  favourable 
replies ; Arequipa  and  Guamanga  sent  messengers  to 
congratulate  him  on  his  proposed  campaign,  which  they 
informed  him  was  eminently  popular.  He  caused  the 
cabildo  of  Cuzco  to  appoint  him  justicia-mayor,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  regarded  as  a part  of  the  established 
government,  and  that  his  efforts  to  set  aside  the  hated 
ordinances  might  seem  to  be  the  acts  of  legitimate 
authority.1 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  232  ; Mendi- 
buru,  iv.  1 15.  Letter  of  Alonso  de  Alvarado  to  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  January  20,  1554,  Doc.  inid.,  iii.  553, 


308  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

When  the  first  news  of  the  uprising  in  Cuzco  reached 
the  oidores  in  Lima,  they  regarded  it  as  a false  rumour, 
but  when  the  truth  of  the  report  had  been  confirmed, 
they  sent  communications  to  the  various  towns,  ordering 
them  to  prepare  to  defend  the  royal  cause,  and  authorised 
Marshal  Alvarado  to  take  all  necessary  steps  to  form  an 
armed  force.  At  the  same  time,  in  order  to  conciliate  the 
encomenderos,  they  suspended  the  decree  abolishing  the 
personal  service  of  the  Indians,  and  proclaimed  amnesty 
for  all  persons  who  had  participated  in  previous  revolts. 
This  last  measure  was  designed  to  affect  the  soldiers  of 
Gonzalo  Pizarro,  who  were  scattered  throughout  the  king- 
dom, and  who  were  supposed  to  be  more  willing  to  support 
the  revolution  than  to  join  the  troops  of  the  audiencia. 

The  inhabitants  of  Guamanga  expelled  the  corregidor, 
Juan  Ruiz,  rejected  the  authority  of  the  audiencia,  and 
pronounced  for  the  cause  of  Giron.  They  moreover, 
signed  a declaration,  which  affirmed  that  their  acts  were 
not  opposed  to  the  king,  and  were  not  in  violation  of  their 
due  submission,  but  were  designed  to  compel  the  oidores 
to  restore  affairs  to  the  state  in  which  they  had  been  left 
by  Gasca. 

At  Lima,  a force  of  thirteen  hundred  men  was  formed, 
composed  in  part  of  refugees  from  Cuzco,  Guamanga,  and 
Arequipa.  But  these  defenders  of  the  royal  cause  were 
not  efficient  soldiers.  They  lacked  discipline ; several 
groups  aimed  at  independent  action  ; and  those  persons 
selected  to  be  captains  were  reluctant  to  serve  in  an  office 
which,  in  their  opinion,  was  far  below  the  position  de- 
manded by  their  merits.  Another  source  of  weakness  was 
the  lack  of  a single  general  officer  whom  they  were  willing 
to  entrust  with  the  conduct  of  the  campaign.  Among 
those  who  aspired  to  this  high  office  were  several  of  the 
oidores  and  Archbishop  Loayza.  The  archbishop  was 
clearly  unfit,  but  his  insistent  pretension  was  supported 
by  his  great  prestige.  Saravia’s  claim  rested  solely  on 
the  fact  that  he  was  the  senior  member  of  the  audiencia. 


GIRON’S  REBELLION 


309 


Santillan,  another  member  of  the  audiencia,  was  not 
known  to  possess  any  military  talent  whatsoever,  but  he 
had  already  been  commissioned  to  proceed  against 
Guamanga.  It  was  finally  determined  to  entrust  the 
general  direction  of  the  forces  jointly  to  the  archbishop 
and  Santillan.  The  other  oidores  were  to  follow,  exer- 
cising the  functions  of  the  audiencia.1 

In  January  1554,  Giron  sent  a force  to  occupy  Gua- 
manga and  protect  those  persons  who  had  declared  them- 
selves adherents  of  his  cause.  He  sent  also  a small  force 
to  Arequipa  under  Piedrahita.  In  the  controversy  be- 
tween the  two  parties,  Arequipa  was  not  long  of  any 
opinion,  but  turned  from  side  to  side  as  influenced  by 
one  party  or  another.  Giron  waited  at  Guamanga  for  the 
expected  reinforcements  from  Arequipa,  and  when  they 
arrived,  they  were  received  at  night,  in  order  that  it 
might  not  be  generally  known  how  few  they  were.  From 
Guamanga,  the  revolutionary  forces  proceeded  to  Jauja, 
and,  after  a short  period  of  rest  at  that  point,  advanced 
towards  the  coast  by  way  of  Guarochiri.  A company  of 
some  thirty  men  under  Captain  Lezana,  advancing  towards 
Pachacamac,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  royalists.  They 
surrendered  under  the  condition  that  their  lives  should 
be  spared,  but  this  promise  of  the  captors  was  not  respected 
by  the  oidores,  and  the  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced 
on  all  members  of  the  company.  But  the  royalist  soldiers 
protested  against  this  judgment  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  provoke  reprisals  by  the  revolutionists.  The  case 
was  then  referred  to  Oidor  Altamirano,  who  modified  the 
sentence  so  that  Lezana  and  two  others  were  executed, 
and  the  rest  were  sent  into  exile. 

This  unfavourable  beginning,  the  loss  of  thirty  of  his 
best  soldiers,  made  a profound  impression  on  Giron,  and 
so  far  discouraged  his  followers  that  many  of  them  deserted. 
While  at  lea,  Giron  was  informed  by  one  of  his  former 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  234  ; Mendi- 
buru,  iv.  1 14  ; Letter  of  the  oidores  to  the  audiencia  of  Panama,  April 
20,  1554,  Doc.  ined.,  iii.  562  ; see  p.  307. 


3io  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

soldiers  who  had  deserted,  that  Meneces,  who  as  maestre 
de  campo  was  the  effective  leader  of  the  royalists,  pro- 
posed to  attack  him.  With  this  hint,  Giron  advanced  to 
meet  the  enemy,  and  by  a vigorous  charge  at  Villacuri, 
an  oasis  in  the  desert  between  lea  and  Pisco,  put  them  to 
flight,  and  compelled  them  to  seek  shelter  among  the 
sand  dunes  of  the  surrounding  desert.  After  this  decided 
victory,  Giron  withdrew  to  Nasca,  where  he  found  abun- 
dant resources,  and  his  little  army  was  reinforced  by  a 
battalion  of  about  three  hundred  negroes,  whom  he  had 
emancipated  and  brought  nominally  under  a military 
organisation.  In  Nasca  he  was  informed  that  his  cause 
had  many  supporters  in  the  northern  part  of  Peru  and 
even  in  New  Granada.  This  information  proved  to  be 
exaggerated,  and  no  important  assistance  came  to  him 
from  the  easily  suppressed  insurrection  in  the  north. 
The  information  that  came  from  Upper  Peru  was  not 
encouraging  to  the  revolutionary  chief.  Alvarado  had 
raised  a considerable  force,  chiefly  in  La  Plata,  La  Paz, 
and  Cuzco,  and  was  marching  against  Giron,  who  had 
taken  up  a position  at  Chuquinga.  Alvarado  had  about 
eleven  hundred  men,  while  Giron  had  only  about  half  of 
that  number.  Giron  had  the  advantage,  however,  of 
occupying  an  almost  impregnable  position.  The  royalist 
leader  fancied  that  his  superior  numbers  would  counter- 
balance the  enemy’s  natural  defences.  In  this  he  was 
clearly  deceived,  for,  as  a result  of  an  engagement  which 
he  began  against  the  advice  of  many  of  his  officers,  he 
suffered  a complete  rout,  with  the  loss  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men  killed  and  two  hundred  and  eighty  wounded. 
Among  the  troops  of  Giron  there  were  seventeen  killed 
and  forty  wounded. 

The  ill  success  of  the  royalist  forces  was  attributed  to 
various  causes,  among  others  to  the  incapacity  of  the 
archbishop  and  Santillan.  These  officers  finally  withdrew, 
and  Meneces  was  charged  with  the  chief  command  ; still 
a majority  of  the  oidores  accompanied  the  troops  in  the 


GIRON’S  REBELLION  31 1 

campaign.  After  some  weeks  of  rest,  recruiting,  and  re- 
plenishing their  stores,  the  two  forces  found  themselves 
encamped  near  one  another  at  Pucara,  a place  which  by 
reason  of  its  natural  facilities  for  defence  had  long  been 
known  as  the  fort.  The  two  armies  remained  for  some 
days  in  full  view  of  one  another.  Finally,  seeing  the  evil 
effects  of  inaction  and  communication  between  the  two 
bodies  of  troops,  Giron  determined  to  attack  the  royalists 
in  their  camp.  The  attack  was  made  in  the  early  morning 
while  it  was  yet  dark,  and  was  unsuccessful.  About  a 
third  of  the  attacking  party  were  either  killed  or  wounded, 
as  many  more  were  hopelessly  scattered  ; and  only  about 
a third  of  the  whole  body  found  their  way  back  to  their 
quarters.  Giron’s  force  was,  moreover,  greatly  weakened 
by  the  desertion  of  several  of  the  captains,  whose  example 
was  followed  by  a large  number  of  the  common  soldiers. 
Seeing  the  hopelessness  of  his  undertaking,  Giron  fled  in 
the  middle  of  the  night.  Before  his  departure  he  took 
leave  of  his  wife,  Dona  Mencia,  who  had  accompanied 
him  during  this  campaign.  She  was  treated  with  the 
consideration  due  to  her  many  excellent  qualities,  and  con- 
ducted back  to  Cuzco  by  the  oidores.  Giron  went  down 
to  the  coast,  hoping  to  embark  at  Nasca,  but  finding  no 
ship  available,  he  turned  back  towards  the  mountains, 
with  the  intention  of  going  to  Quito.  He  was  captured 
in  the  valley  of  Jauja,  and  taken  to  Lima,  where, 
the  historian  says,  “ no  one  pitied  him.”  The  captors 
carried  him  into  the  city  with  a great  show  of  triumph, 
and  a few  days  later,  in  the  first  half  of  December 
1554,  he  was  executed,  and  his  head  was  nailed  to  a 
post  in  a public  place  with  those  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro 
and  Carbajal. 

Among  the  Europeans,  as  indicated  by  their  willing- 
ness to  desert  from  the  ranks  of  the  rebels,  the  zeal  for 
rebellion  had  lost  much  of  its  fire.  The  negroes,  to  whom 
Giron  had  given  liberty  and  the  status  of  soldiers,  ranged 
the  country  committing  great  excesses,  and  were  brought 


312  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


into  subjection  only  by  the  severe  punishment  of  the 
most  culpable  and  by  establishing  regulations  designed 
to  subdue  their  aspirations.1 


IV 

The  overthrow  and  death  of  Giron  marked  the  end  of 
the  early  civil  wars  of  Peru.  At  their  close  there  were  in 
that  country  about  eight  thousand  Spaniards.  Of  these, 
four  hundred  and  eighty-nine  held  grants  of  land  and 
Indians,  and  about  one  thousand  others  occupied  official 
positions  or  lived  on  their  estates  ; but  a large  part  of  the 
whole  number  may  be  described  as  adventurers  ; they 
desired  to  live  without  labour,  and  the  peace  and  order  of 
a settled  society  was  scarcely  compatible  with  their  pur- 
poses. With  this  population,  Peru  did  not  offer  an  attrac- 
tive field  for  the  work  of  administration.  The  Spaniards 
appear  to  have  taken  this  view  of  it ; for  two  noblemen 
to  whom  the  king,  in  1555,  offered  the  position  of  viceroy 
in  succession  refused  it ; but  it  was  finally  accepted,  with 
reluctance,  however,  by  Don  Andres  Hurtado  de  Mendoza, 
Marquis  of  Canete.  He  was  appointed  for  six  years  with 
an  annual  salary  of  forty  thousand  ducats.  Among  the 
first  measures  proposed  by  Mendoza  were  those  to  expel 
from  the  country  some  of  the  more  dangerous  characters, 
and  to  prohibit  persons  from  going  to  Peru,  except  under 
certain  specified  conditions.2  Mendoza  assumed  the  duties 
of  his  office  in  Lima,  in  June  1556.  His  policy  outlined 
in  Seville,  as  well  as  his  orders  issued  after  his  arrival  in 
Peru,  indicate  that  he  proposed  to  rule  with  a firm  hand. 

In  order  to  be  rid  of  the  reckless  adventurers,  the  new 
viceroy  proposed  to  send  them  away  on  expeditions  of 
discovery  and  conquest.  This  project  excited  opposition. 
The  conquests  already  made  had  been  attended  with  the 

1 Letters  and  other  papers  relating  to  the  rebellion  of  Francisco 
Hernandez  Giron  are  printed  in  Doc.  indd.,  iii.  228-242. 

2 Doc.  indd.,  xxiii.  54S. 


GIRON’S  REBELLION 


3*3 

loss  of  large  numbers  of  Europeans  as  well  as  of  natives  ; 
and  many  persons,  sharing  the  views  of  Las  Casas,  were 
opposed  to  other  repetitions  of  the  earlier  tragedies.  With 
respect  to  the  adventurers,  who  might  be  induced  to  join 
the  proposed  expeditions,  the  viceroy  preferred  to  see 
them  destroyed  in  the  wilderness  rather  than  to  see  Peru 
ruined  by  their  lawlessness  and  the  violence  of  their  re- 
volts and  quarrels.1 

In  order  to  allay  the  prevailing  social  commotion, 
the  viceroy  provided  that  persons  should  not  leave  their 
encomiendas  without  permission,  and  that  they  should 
not  resort  to  the  capital.  He  sent  men  of  education  in 
whom  he  had  confidence  to  be  the  corregidores  of  the 
principal  cities  ; and  when  he  had  thoroughly  established 
his  authority,  he  undertook  to  put  the  fear  of  the  law  into 
the  hearts  of  offenders.  He  caused  Tomas  Vazquez, 
Piedrahita,  and  Pineda  to  be  arrested  and  executed  ; 
but  he  rewarded  those  who  had  served  well  the  legiti- 
mate government.  It  was  impossible  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  rewards  not  to  leave  some  persons  dissatisfied. 
Those  who  persisted  in  their  complaints  were  embarked 
for  Spain  ; they  might  petition  the  Crown  to  do  them 
justice  according  to  their  merits. 

The  viceroy  appointed  his  son,  Garda  Hurtado  de 
Mendoza,  to  be  the  governor  of  Chile,  and  the  expedition 
which  the  youthful  Mendoza  led  to  that  country  fur- 
nished to  some  of  the  royalist  soldiers  a new  field  for 
adventures  and  for  possible  glory.  Others  were  admitted 
to  the  viceregal  guard  created  by  the  viceroy.  It  con- 
sisted of  one  hundred  lancers  and  fifty  archers,  and  its 
chief  function  was  to  serve  as  a guard  of  honour  for  the 
viceroy.  The  difficulty  of  maintaining  order  was  les- 
sened by  the  decrease  of  the  lawless  element  of  the  popu- 
lation. No  embarrassment  was  caused,  therefore,  by  the 
viceroy’s  orders  that  the  artillery  should  be  brought  to 
the  capital  and  kept  under  his  control,  and  that  the 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  ausiriaca,  266. 


3i4  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

corregidores  should  not  continue  the  practice  of  keeping 
soldiers  under  their  commands.  The  Indians  were  gene- 
rally disposed  to  be  peaceful,  but  in  the  highland  region 
the  tradition  of  the  ancient  organisation  survived.  It 
was  impossible  for  them  there  not  to  wish  to  perpetuate 
the  dignity  of  their  ancient  ruler.  Sairi-Tupac  was  ac- 
knowledged as  the  heir  of  Manco,  and  the  Spaniards  were 
solicitous  lest  the  Indians,  moved  by  their  unquenchable 
hatred,  might  form  a plan  for  the  extermination  of  their 
oppressors.  The  viceroy  continued  the  efforts  of  his  pre- 
decessors to  induce  the  Inca  to  abandon  the  mountains 
and  associate  himself  with  the  Spaniards.  The  first 
attempts  to  bring  about  this  result  appeared  to  have  no 
influence  on  Sairi-Tupac.  He  finally  succumbed  to  the 
vain  flattery  and  seduction  of  a higher  civilisation.  He 
descended  to  Lima,  borne,  like  the  ancient  sovereign,  in 
a palanquin  on  the  shoulders  of  Indians,  but  the 
splendour  of  the  ancient  royal  progress  could  not  be 
reproduced.  The  decorations,  the  ornaments,  and  the 
emblems  of  dignity  had  gone  as  a useless  sacrifice  to  the 
greed  of  the  invaders.  At  Lima,  the  authorities  and  the 
citizens  made  his  reception  a somewhat  elaborate  cere- 
mony in  his  honour,  and  in  consideration  of  his  renuncia- 
tion of  sovereignty,  he  was  granted  the  title  of  Adelantado 
and  an  income  of  twenty  thousand  ducats  from  the  en- 
comiendas  of  Sacshuana  and  Iucay.  When  he  had  been 
baptized  and  admitted  into  the  Church  as  Don  Diego, 
and  his  wife,  Cusi  Huarcay,  appeared  as  Dona  Maria,  he 
had  put  off  completely  his  hereditary  character.  The 
solemn  dignity  of  his  ancestors  had  been  bartered  for 
that  which  could  give  him  no  satisfaction.  After  he  had 
arrived  in  Cuzco  from  Lima,1  his  presence  was  celebrated 
in  festivities,  winch  offered  a momentary  diversion.  He 
visited  the  churches,  but  for  him  they  had  little  or  no 
meaning.  The  sense  of  his  changed  position,  of  what  he 
had  lost,  plunged  him  into  a state  of  profound  melancholy. 

1 Markham,  Tke  Incas  of  Peru,  274. 


GIRON’S  REBELLION 


3i5 


Fate  had  made  him  the  head  of  his  house  and  the  leader 
of  his  people,  and  he  fancied  that  his  failure  to  stand  at 
his  post  had  brought  his  house  and  his  people  to  ruin. 
He  retired  to  Iucay,  but  he  survived  less  than  three 
years,  and  died  “at  an  early  age  consumed  by  grief.”  1 

The  viceroy  called  the  members  of  the  audiencia  to 
account  for  the  conduct  of  affairs  before  his  appointment. 
They  had  been  in  contention  among  themselves,  and 
essayed  to  lead  the  forces  in  the  field  instead  of  per- 
forming their  proper  duties  at  the  capital.  His  rule  was 
unquestionably  severe,  but  it  was  effective.  It  put  an 
end  to  the  lawlessness  with  which  the  country  had  been 
afflicted  for  a decade. 

During  the  administration  of  Hurtado  de  Mendoza, 
who  was  accompanied  by  his  family,  the  viceregal  court 
was  set  up,  and  Lima  assumed  the  forms  and  ceremonies 
of  civilised  society,  and  became  the  social  centre  of  the 
Spanish  dominions  in  South  America.  The  pretentious 
display  of  the  viceroy’s  court  was  not  without  influence 
in  maintaining  order  among  the  colonists  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  look  to  the  ceremonious  court  of 
Madrid  as  the  source  of  authority  that  could  not  be  dis- 
regarded. 

The  viceroy  had  undertaken  the  government  of  Peru 
with  the  assurance  that  he  would  be  supported  by  the 
court  of  Madrid  in  all  measures  that  were  found  to  be 
necessary  to  establish  public  order.  But  his  expecta- 
tions in  this  regard  were  not  realised.  Spaniards  whom 
he  had  banished  found  their  way  to  Spain  and  persuaded 
the  new  king,  Philip  II,  that  the  severe  measures  of 
Mendoza  were  unnecessary,  and  constituted  a hindrance 
to  the  progress  of  Peru  and  to  the  development  of  Spanish 
interests  in  the  colony  ; and  the  infrequency  and  diffi- 
culty of  communication  between  Spain  and  America  made 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  273  ; Mendi- 
buru,  vii.  259-61  ; Markham,  The  Incas  of  Peru , 273  ; Hakluyt,  22  ; 
Markham’s  Introduction  to  Pedro  Sarmiento,  xi. 


3i6  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

it  impossible  for  the  king  to  be  kept  fully  informed  con- 
cerning Peruvian  affairs,  or  for  charges  made  in  Spain 
against  royal  officers  in  Peru  to  be  readily  refuted.  In 
this  case  Philip  appears  to  have  taken  action  without 
waiting  to  have  both  sides  presented  with  equal  force 
and  clearness.  He  caused  the  viceroy  to  be  superseded 
by  Diego  de  Acevedo  y Zuniga,  Count  of  Nieva.  But 
Mendoza  died  before  the  arrival  of  the  new  viceroy. 
His  government  had  lasted  nearly  five  years,  and  during 
this  period  he  had  succeeded  in  establishing  peace  among 
the  inhabitants  of  Peru,  and  had  laid  the  foundations  of 
an  orderly  administration.1 

The  demand  that  Peru  should  return  a large  revenue  to 
Spain  stood  constantly  in  the  way  of  establishing  a good 
government  for  that  country.  From  the  Spanish  point 
of  view,  that  was  likely  to  be  pronounced  a good  govern- 
ment which  gave  Spain  the  largest  possible  revenue, 
while  from  the  Peruvian  point  of  viewr  it  might  appear 
to  have  few  advantages.  Mendoza  sent  to  Spain  a large 
amount  of  money,  but  there  was  always  a demand  for 
more  ; for  Spain  in  her  decline  towards  bankruptcy  w^as 
practically  insatiable,  and  the  management  of  Spanish- 
American  affairs  from  the  side  of  Spain  was  largely  deter- 
mined by  the  hope  of  increasing  the  revenues  of  the  home 
government. 

At  the  close  of  the  brief  rule  of  the  Count  of  Nieva, 
the  title  of  Viceroy  of  Peru  was  temporarily  suspended. 
His  successor,  Lope  Garcia  de  Castro,  who  entered  Lima 
in  September  1564,  w'as  known  as  governor  and  captain- 
general.  He  was  president  of  the  audiencia  of  Lima. 
Other  audiencias  had  been  established  at  Quito,  La  Plata, 
Panama,  and  Santiago.  During  the  presidency  of  Garcia 
de  Castro,  who  had  been  a member  of  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  peace  was  maintained  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Peru,  and  steps  were  taken  towards  perfecting  the  ad- 
ministrative organisation  by  dividing  the  territory  into 

1 Fernandez,  Historia  del  Peru,  parte  ii.  lib.  ii.  caps,  i.-iii. 


GIRON’S  REBELLION  317 

districts,  in  each  of  which  it  was  provided  that  power 
should  be  exercised  by  a corregidor ; while  cabildos 
were  formed  in  the  towns.  In  this  period,  moreover,  in 
1564,  the  territory  now  known  as  Ecuador  was  consti- 
tuted the  presidency  of  Quito.1 


1 Cevallos,  Historia  del  Ecuador,  ii.  9. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


THE  REIGN  OF  VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO 

I.  The  formation  of  Indian  towns.  II.  The  Yanaconas.  III.  The 
Mita.  IV.  The  execution  of  Tupac  Amaru.  V.  The  use  of 
mercury  in  the  reduction  of  silver  ore.  VI.  The  University  of  San 
Marcos.  VII.  The  establishment  of  the  Inquisition. 

I 

In  1568,  the  office  of  viceroy,  which  had  been  in  abey- 
ance during  the  administration  of  Lope  Garcia  de  Castro 
as  president  of  the  audiencia,  was  re-established  by  the 
appointment  of  Francisco  de  Toledo.  Toledo  entered 
Lima  on  November  26,  1569.  He  had  been  a majordomo 
at  the  court  of  Philip  II,  and  here  the  king  learned  to 
know  him  as  a man  of  zeal,  energy,  and  tact.  He  believed 
him  disposed  to  inquire  diligently  into  conditions  and  to 
reflect  profoundly  on  the  measures  needed  before  con- 
cluding to  adopt  them.  In  spite  of  his  advanced  age,  the 
viceroy  devoted  several  years  to  making  himself  familiar 
with  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  different  parts  of  his  realm, 
and,  during  his  journeys  of  nearly  five  thousand  miles  and 
his  visits  in  the  provinces,  the  audiencia  conducted  the 
government  at  the  capital.  In  making  these  investiga- 
tions, and  in  dealing  with  the  various  governmental 
questions  presented  to  him,  he  was  assisted  by  Agustin 
de  la  Coruna,  Bishop  of  Popayan  ; the  Augustinian  friars, 
Juan  Vivero  and  Francisco  del  Corral ; the  Jesuit,  Acosta  ; 
the  lawyers,  Polo  Ondegardo  and  Juan  Matienzo  ; and  the 
inquisitor,  Pedro  Ordones  Flores. 

One  of  the  early  undertakings  of  the  viceroy  was  to 
cause  the  Indians  to  live  in  towns.  Left  to  themselves, 

they  were  disposed  to  live  scattered  in  the  less  frequented 

318 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  319 

parts  of  the  country,  and  to  avoid  all  contact  with  the 
hated  invaders.  If  conditions  like  these  were  permitted 
to  exist,  a part  of  the  Spanish  policy  was  doomed  to 
failure.  It  would  be  impossible  for  ecclesiastics  to  search 
them  out  in  the  caves  and  hidden  places  of  the  mountains, 
and  teach  them  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  In  order  to 
persuade  them  to  accept  baptism,  and  acknowledge  them- 
selves to  be  Christians,  it  was  necessary  that  they  should 
be  gathered  together,  where  they  might  be  dealt  with  in 
considerable  companies.  This  plan  of  compelling  the 
Indians  to  live  in  towns  was  generally  opposed  by  the 
encomenderos  and  all  persons  w’ho  wished  the  labour  of 
the  Indians  on  their  estates  or  in  their  mines.  Respecting 
this  feature  of  policy,  there  remained  a conflict  of  opinions 
throughout  the  period  of  Spanish  domination.1 

The  design  of  Toledo  was  to  form  villages,  or  reduc- 
tions, of  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  persons,  and  to 
provide  an  ecclesiastic  for  each,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
limit  the  demands  which  the  priests  might  make  on  the 
Indians.  By  this  means  it  was  proposed  to  prevent  the 
extortion  which  all  classes  of  Spaniards  were  disposed  to 
practise  on  the  natives.  These  villages  were  to  be  fur- 
nished with  churches,  buildings  for  the  town  government, 
prisons,  and  hospitals.  The  proposed  towns  were  evi- 
dently copies  of  Spanish  towns,  and  to  expect  the  natives 
to  adapt  themselves  to  participation  in  a kind  of  govern- 
ment that  was  entirely  foreign  to  their  experience  was 
clearly  to  overestimate  their  capacity.  Although  the 
Indians  might  not  be  able  to  conduct  in  an  orderly  manner 
municipal  governments  of  the  European  type,  they  turned 
with  great  eagerness  to  certain  practices  of  civilisation. 
They  had  an  unwarranted  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the 
courts  to  redress  the  wrongs  they  suffered  at  the  hands  of 

1 Virey  D.  Francisco  de  Toledo  (Manuscript  J.  113,  in  Biblioteca 
Nacional),  Doc.  inid.,  viii.  212-93;  Memorial  dado  al  Rey  por  D. 
Francisco  De  Toledo,  sobre  el  estado  en  que  dejo  las  cosas  dei  Peru, 
despues  de  haber  sido  su  Virey  y Capitan  general  trece  afios,  a contar 
desde  1596,  Doc.  inid.,  vi.  516-53. 


320  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

their  oppressors.  They  turned  to  litigation  as  to  a game 
in  which  they  were  bound  to  win.  They  often  left  their 
homes,  and  undertook  long  journeys  in  order  to  present 
their  cases  before  the  audiencias,  only  to  find  themselves 
robbed  by  clerks  and  lawyers,  and  plunged  into  hopeless 
poverty.  To  remove  the  incentive  to  these  unprofitable 
undertakings,  and  protect  the  natives  from  the  extor- 
tions of  unscrupulous  Spaniards,  the  viceroy  endowed 
corregidores  with  judicial  capacity,  and  also  instituted 
friendly  arbitrators,  whose  function  was  to  effect  settle- 
ments without  the  expense  and  delay  of  the  ordinary 
judicial  processes.  The  viceroy’s  plans  might  have  pro- 
duced beneficent  results,  if  there  had  existed  and  continued 
to  exist  the  agencies  requisite  for  their  proper  execution. 
But  they  failed  on  account  of  the  avarice  of  the  corregidores 
and  other  persons  who  held  positions  of  power  in  relation 
to  the  Indians ; and  the  Indians  continued  to  be  the 
unfortunate  prey  of  both  ecclesiastics  and  civilians. 

The  practice  of  distributing  the  Indians  for  forced 
labour  in  the  mines,  in  agriculture,  and  in  other  occupa- 
tions, furnished  an  opportunity  for  the  most  severe  oppres- 
sion. Plans  for  abolishing  this  compulsory  service  had 
been  under  discussion  for  several  decades,  but  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  encomenderos  and  others  interested  in  the 
system  had  not  been  overcome.  Finding  that  the 
audiencia,  the  corregidores  of  the  city,  the  royal  officials, 
and  the  cabildos  had  exercised  the  power  to  make  rcpar- 
timientos  of  Indians,  the  viceroy  determined  that  this 
authority  should  be  exercised  only  by  the  viceroy  in  the 
name  of  the  king. 


II 

Under  Toledo  some  of  the  Indians  in  the  Charcas  and 
later  in  other  provinces  entered  into  a new  relation  with  the 
Spaniards.  They  were  called  Yanaconas.  By  this  de- 
signation were  known  those  Indians  who  for  one  cause  or 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  321 

another  were  not  included  in  any  repartimiento,  or  had 
ceased  to  be  subject  to  a cacique.  Their  position  under 
their  Spanish  master  was  not  greatly  unlike  that  of  certain 
dependents  in  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.  They 
were  given  the  use  of  certain  lands  which  they  could  plant 
and  on  which  they  could  live,  and  it  was  expected  that 
their  master  would  furnish  them  instruction,  and  would 
provide  assistance  for  them  in  case  they  were  ill.  They 
have  been  usually  thought  of  as  chiefly  engaged  in  house- 
hold service,  in  consideration  of  which  the  master  gave 
them  food  and  clothing,  and  paid  their  tribute.  But 
Juan  Matienzo,  who,  as  oidor  of  the  audiencia  of  Charcas, 
was  familiar  with  the  early  history  of  the  Yanaconas, 
refers  to  four  kinds  of  Yanaconas,  and  he  appears  to 
have  classified  them  according  to  the  occupation  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  These  were  those  who  worked  on 
the  land,  those  who  served  in  the  houses  of  the  Spaniards, 
those  who  were  employed  in  the  mines  of  Potosi  and 
Porco,  and  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  forests  gather- 
ing coca  leaves.  Subject  to  little  or  no  police  supervision, 
the  Yanaconas  sometimes  deserted  their  masters,  and 
became  vagabonds.  For  the  Spaniards,  who  wished  all 
the  Indians  to  be  subject  to  some  authority,  this  was  a 
grievance  which  they  sought  to  set  aside  by  regulations 
and  a stricter  supervision.1 


1 Referring  to  the  condition  of  the  Yanaconas,  Juan  Matienzo 
wrote  : " Biven  como  Christianos  entre  Christianos,  son  mejor  tratados 
y curados  que  de  sus  caciques.  Comen  y beven  mejor  que  en  sus  tierras, 
tiene  mas  honra  que  los  mismos  caciques  del  lo  que  ellos  estan  con- 
tentos,  viene  de  ellos  utilidad  a la  republica,  de  manera  que  sin  ellos 
no  se  podria  conservar,  porque  espanoles  no  sirven  ni  conviene  que 
sirvan,  negros  ay  pocos  y aun  que  seria  mejor  no  hubiesse  tantos,  y asi 
sin  el  servicio  de  estos  para  lo  necessario  no  se  podria  conservar  la 
tierra  ” ( Gobierno  del  Peru,  1 8) . Juan  Matienzo  arrived  in  America 
about  1 560  as  oidor  of  the  audiencia  of  Charcas,  and  wrote  the 
Gobierno  del  Peru  before  1573.  The  work  remained  in  manuscript  until 
1910,  when  it  was  published  in  Buenos  Aires.  Solorzano,  in  discussing 
the  character  and  status  of  the  Yanaconas,  libro.  ii.  cap.  iv.,  makes 
reference  to  the  work  of  Matienzo.  Rene-Moreno  defines  the  Yanaconas 
as  “ indios  vinculados  con  su  prole  a la  labranza  de  una  hacienda,  sin 
VOL.  I.  X 


322  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


III 

To  the  period  of  Toledo’s  reign  belongs  also  the 
establishment  of  the  system  of  the  mita,  or  forced  labour, 
in  Peru.  Matienzo  describes  the  labourers  under  this 
system  as  “ those  Indians  of  the  repartimientos  who  serve 
in  their  turns.”  He  points  out  that  there  are  several  kinds 
of  them  : those  who  work  at  the  inns,  or  tambos  ; those 
who  serve  the  Spaniards  in  their  houses  ; those  who  serve  in 
the  houses  of  their  encomenderos ; and  those  who  take  care 
of  the  cattle.  Another  order  of  mitayos  were  those  who 
were  assigned  to  corregidores,  priests,  and  other  Spaniards 
to  work  in  their  houses,  and  who  were  changed  every 
week,  some  serving  one  week  and  others  another  week.1 

The  labour  of  the  mitayos  who  served  at  the  tambos 
consisted  in  carrying  food  and  wood  for  travellers,  and  in 
carrying  goods  from  one  tambo  to  another.  These 
tambos  were  huts  or  very  rude  houses,  where  travellers 
might  find  shelter,  but  they  were  generally  without 
furniture,  and  were  not  provided  with  food  for  either  man 
or  beast.  Travellers  might,  however,  find  in  them  pro- 
tection from  the  storms  that  sometimes  sw^eep  over  the 
mountains.  It  was  proposed  that  the  tambos  on  the 
principal  lines  of  travel  should  be  four  or  five  leagues 
apart,  and  that  each  should  be  furnished  with  a schedule 
of  the  services  which  one  might  expect  from  the  Indians. 
These  facilities  for  promoting  communication  did  not 
vary  greatly  from  the  system  that  had  prevailed  under 
the  Incas  before  the  conquest  ; and  they  continued  many 
decades  later.2 

libertad  de  salir  ni  de  trabajar  por  su  cuenta,  y que  eran  transferidos 
a terceros  poseedores  junto  con  la  propriedad,  de  la  misma  manera 
que7si  luesen  semovientes  del  terreno”  (Bolivia  y Peru , 235). 

1 Matienzo,  Juan,  Gobierno  del  Peru,  25-8;  Solrozano,  Politico 
Indiana,  lib.  ii.  cap.  v.-vii. 

2 A recent  traveller  in  this  region,  which  was  formerly  known  as 
Upper  Peru,  describes  the  tambo,  as  it  exists  to-day,  as  “ a little 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  323 

This  service,  known  as  the  mita,  was  demanded  of  one- 
seventh  part  of  the  adult  male  population,  and  for  them 
there  were  established  periods  of  work  and  periods  of  rest. 
But  these  regulations  were  not  strictly  observed.  The 
interest  of  the  employer  presented  an  effective  opposition 
to  their  execution.  In  spite  of  these  regulations  and  all 
laws  intended  to  regulate  the  payment  of  wages  and  the 
distance  the  Indians  might  be  taken  from  their  homes, 
the  mita  remained  an  instrument  of  extreme  oppression. 

In  gathering  and  marketing  the  coca  leaves,  the  Indians 
were  obliged  to  pass  from  the  cold  regions  of  the  moun- 
tains to  the  hot  valleys,  and  these  changes  of  temperature 
produced  disastrous  results  with  reference  to  the  health 
and  lives  of  the  Indians.  This  fact  gave  rise  to  an 
opinion  in  favour  of  prohibiting  the  use  of  coca,  and  of 
exterminating  the  plant.  Philip  II  was  not  disposed  to 
support  a measure  so  extreme  as  this  ; but  he  ordered, 
in  1573,  that  the  cultivation  of  the  coca  might  be  con- 
tinued, provided  only  that  free  and  voluntary  labourers 
were  employed.  The  use  of  the  forced  labour  of  the  mita 
was  forbidden  under  severe  penalties.  The  same  restric- 
tions were  later  applied  to  the  labourers  to  be  employed 
in  vineyards  and  olive  plantations.  Toledo,  moreover, 
imposed  the  alcabala  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  on 
coca. 


collection  of  mud  huts,”  where  “ the  only  thing  to  eat  is  the  food  you 
bring  with  you.”  “ They  are  modelled  on  the  Inca  tambos  that  used 
to  exist  on  all  the  more  frequented  trails  in  the  highlands  of  Peru 
and  Bolivia  ; a range  of  low,  windowless  buildings,  either  of  stone  or 
adobe,  sometimes  completely  surrounding  a courtyard,  at  other  times 
only  on  three  sides,  containing  a few  rooms,  of  which  one  is  furnished 
with  a rough  and  very  shaky  table  and  three  or  four  adobe  platforms 
intended  for  bunks  ; mud  floors  that  have  accumulated  dirt  and  filth 
of  every  description  ever  since  the  building  was  constructed  ; poorly 
thatched  roofs  from  which  bits  of  straw  and  pieces  of  dirt  occasionally 
dislodge  themselves  to  fall  on  the  table  where  we  spread  our  canned 
repast,  or  to  alight  on  our  faces  just  as  we  were  trying  to  get  to  sleep.” 
Bingham,  Across  South  America  (Boston,  1911),  99,  149.  An  early 
description  of  the  tambos  and  the  chasques  is  given  by  Cobo,  Historia 
del  Nuevo  Mundo  (Seville,  1892),  lib.  xii.  cap.  xxxii. 


324  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


IV 

The  viceroy  fancied  that,  in  spite  of  the  death  of 
Sairi-Tupac,  the  Indians  of  the  mountains  still  threatened 
the  peace  of  Peru  and  the  stability  of  Spanish  rule.  The 
thought  of  Sairi-Tupac,  that  his  defection  had  ruined 
his  house,  was  not  justified  by  subsequent  events.  His 
brother,  Tupac  Amaru,  was  accepted  as  the  leader  of  his 
people,  and  continued  the  rule  of  the  Incas  at  Vilcabamba. 
Certain  acts  of  reprisal  by  the  Indians,  particularly  the 
deaths  of  Ortiz  and  Pando,  led  the  viceroy  to  determine 
to  take  Tupac  Amaru  by  force,  when  negotiations  for  this 
purpose  had  failed.  Many  persons  supported  the  enter- 
prise as  a similar  undertaking  to  Pizarro’s  capture  of  the 
Inca  ; they  were  desirous  to  have  a share  of  the  spoils 
which  they  hoped  might  be  obtained.  Toledo  expected 
by  this  means  to  win  the  favour  of  the  king.  A Spanish 
force  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  under  Martin  Her- 
nando de  Arbieto  entered  Vilcabamba.  The  Inca  fled, 
but  was  overtaken  and  carried  to  Cuzco,  where  he  was 
imprisoned.  Toledo  ordered  him  to  be  tried,  and  among 
the  charges  brought  against  him  were  rebellion  and  treason 
to  the  King  of  Spain.  Tupac  Amaru  was  found  to  be 
innocent  of  these  charges,  but  by  the  introduction  of  false 
testimony,  an  ostensible  ground  was  provided  for  a sen- 
tence, which  was  pronounced  in  accordance  with  the 
wishes  of  the  viceroy.  This  sentence  was  that  the  Inca 
should  be  beheaded.  For  the  execution,  a platform  was 
constructed  in  the  plaza  of  Cuzco.  Vigorous  protests 
were  presented  against  the  carrying  out  of  the  sentence. 
Ondegardo  denounced  it  as  immoral  and  unjust.  The 
Inca  appealed  to  the  Crown,  and  the  bishop  offered  to 
conduct  him  to  Spain.  The  ayuntamiento,  the  clergy, 
and  the  most  notable  persons  of  the  kingdom  intervened 
to  prevent  the  commission  of  a judicial  crime.  The 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  325 

viceroy,  after  he  had  learned  of  the  opposition  to  his 
proposed  action,  remained  locked  in  his  house,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  importunities  of  those  who  would  not  only 
save  his  reputation,  but  also  spare  the  life  of  the  Inca. 
On  the  occasion  of  the  execution,  the  streets  and  the 
plaza  were  crowded  with  Indians,  “ whose  silent  sadness 
might  be  changed  into  uncontrollable  anger.”  Before 
the  Spaniards  destroyed  their  victim,  they  were  careful 
to  have  him  converted  and  baptized  ; and  after  this 
event  he  was  no  longer  Inca  Tupac  Amaru  ; his  proper 
title  and  name  had  been  superseded  by  the  name  of 
Philip.  He  was  conducted  to  the  scaffold  mounted  on  a 
mule,  with  his  hands  tied  and  a rope  about  his  neck. 
The  crier  who  accompanied  him,  proclaimed  that  this 
man  was  executed  as  a tyrant  and  a traitor  to  the  king. 
It  is  recorded  that,  informed  by  the  priests  who  attended 
him  of  the  meaning  of  this  announcement,  he  called  the 
crier  to  him  and  said  : “ Do  not  say  this  which  you  are 
crying  out,  since  you  know  that  it  is  merely  mockery  ; 
I have  not  committed  treason,  nor  have  I intended  to  do 
so,  as  all  the  world  knows.  Say  that  they  kill  me,  be- 
cause the  viceroy  wishes  it,  and  not  that  I am  guilty  of 
any  crime  ; that  I have  done  nothing  against  him,  nor 
against  the  King  of  Castile.  I call  upon  Pachacamac, 
who  knows  that  what  I say  is  true.”  1 

When  the  vast  throng  of  Indians  saw  that  the  sentence 
which  had  been  pronounced  on  their  chief  was  about  to 
be  carried  out,  they  raised  a cry  of  horror,  that  seemed 
to  forebode  the  outbreak  of  a storm  of  rage.  But  at  this 
point,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  priest,  Tupac  Amaru 
undertook,  by  a simple  gesture  of  the  hand,  to  allay  the 
rising  trouble  ; the  ominous  roar  of  the  crowd  was  imme- 
diately succeeded  by  a profound  silence  ; and  at  this 
moment  the  Inca  fell  under  the  executioner’s  fatal  blow. 

To  make  impossible  any  future  uprising  led  by  a 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  auslriaca,  303  ; Mark- 
ham, The  Incas  of  Peru,  290-8. 


326  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

member  of  the  Inca  family,  the  viceroy  caused  the  rela- 
tives of  the  executed  chief,  to  the  number  of  thirty-eight, 
to  be  taken  to  Lima.  Within  three  or  four  years  they  all 
disappeared ; a few  were  sent  into  exile,  but  death  carried 
off  the  majority  of  them.  The  early  death  of  Sairi-Tupac 
and  of  the  relatives  of  the  Inca  who  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Spaniards,  created  a suspicion  among  the  Indians 
that  this  result  was  not  wholly  due  to  natural  causes. 

During  the  later  years  of  this  period,  the  viceroy 
sought  zealously  to  improve  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
kingdom.  He  organised,  in  the  audiencia,  a department 
for  the  trial  of  criminal  cases  ; determined  more  pre- 
cisely the  duties  of  the  corregidores  ; developed  the  local 
governments  ; and  impressed  on  the  alcaldes  and  cabildos 
the  desirability  of  securing  justice  to  all  persons.  He 
emphasized  the  feudal  obligations  of  vassals  by  requiring 
the  residents  of  certain  provinces  to  join  the  expeditions 
against  the  Chiriguanos  and  other  tribes  at  their  own 
expense,  providing  that  those  who  were  prevented  from 
going  should  pay  for  the  support  of  one  or  more  soldiers, 
according  to  their  wealth. 

When  internal  peace  and  order  seemed  to  be  estab- 
lished, the  viceroy  prepared  to  resist  attacks  from  without. 
The  immediate  incentive  to  this  effort  was  the  appearance 
of  Francis  Drake.  Drake  left  Plymouth,  November  15, 
3:577,  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  arrived 
unannounced  off  the  coast  of  Peru.  He  captured  several 
vessels  with  rich  booty,  among  others,  one  that  was  ready 
to  sail  from  Callao  with  a large  amount  of  silver.  The 
viceroy,  moved  by  this  event,  organised  a small  fleet, 
and  sent  it  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  intercept  Drake 
on  his  return,  but  Drake  was  not  to  be  encountered  there  ; 
he  had  sailed  westward,  and  reached  England  by  com- 
pleting a voyage  around  the  world. 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  327 


V 

An  important  event  of  this  reign  was  the  beginning 
of  the  use  of  mercury  in  the  reduction  of  silver  ore.  For 
some  years  the  quicksilver  mines  of  Huancavelica  had 
been  exploited,  but  there  was  no  considerable  demand  for 
the  product  in  Peru.  In  Mexico,  however,  the  utility  of 
quicksilver  in  connection  with  mining  processes  had  been 
known,  and  when  the  supply  from  Almaden  in  Spain 
had  been  insufficient,  the  Mexican  miners  were  per- 
mitted to  supply  the  deficiency  by  importations  from 
Peru.  In  1573,  when  the  viceroy  was  in  Cuzco,  Pedro 
Fernandez  Velasco,  who  had  acquired  his  knowledge  of 
the  subject  in  Mexico,  appeared  and  offered  to  show  how 
mercury  might  be  employed  in  extracting  silver.  Toledo, 
taking  advantage  of  this  offer,  caused  a certain  amount  of 
ore  to  be  brought  from  Potosi,  and  witnessed  in  his  own 
house  the  successful  experiment.  Velasco  then  went  to 
Potosi,  and  explained  the  system  to  the  miners  of  that 
city.  The  immediate  result  of  the  introduction  of  the 
new  process  was  the  rapid  development  of  the  quicksilver 
mines  of  Huancavelica,  and  a corresponding  increase  in 
the  production  of  silver  from  the  mines  of  Potosi.  In 
1573  also,  the  mines  of  Huancavelica  became  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Crown.  To  the  town  which  came  into  exist- 
ence at  these  mines,  Toledo  gave  the  official  designation 
of  Villarica  de  Oropesa.  It  had  been  known  as  Huan- 
cavelica, and  it  continued  to  be  known  by  that  name.1 

VI 

No  events  associated  with  the  government  of  Toledo 
were  destined  to  have  more  important  consequences  for 
Peru  than  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  at  Lima 

1 Memorial  y relacion  de  las  minas  de  azogue  del  Peru,  Doc.  in&d., 
viii.  422-49 ; Ordenanzas  del  Virrey  D.  Francisco  de  Toledo  para  los 
oficiales  de  Guamanga  y caja  de  Guancavelica,  Ibid.,  viii.  462. 


328  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  the  development  of  the  university.  As  already  in- 
dicated, the  University  of  Lima  was  founded  in  1553,  in 
the  monastery  of  the  Dominicans.  Some  years  later,  at 
the  request  of  the  order,  Pius  V,  by  a bull  of  July  25, 
1571,  confirmed  the  act  of  establishment.  In  the  course 
of  time,  the  presence  of  the  university  in  the  monastery 
became  a source  of  vexation  on  account  of  the  disturb- 
ance caused  by  the  attendance  of  persons  from  without. 
In  1574  the  university  received  the  name  of  San  Marcos  ; 
and  in  1577,  after  occupying  temporary  quarters  else- 
where, it  was  moved  to  its  present  site.  In  the  same 
year,  Philip  II,  through  the  viceroy,  arranged  its  financial 
affairs,  and  framed  laws  and  regulations  for  its  govern- 
ment. Three  years  later,  May  25,  1580,  Toledo  conferred 
upon  the  rector  jurisdiction  over  the  doctors,  masters, 
students,  and  officers  of  the  university  for  their  correction 
and  better  discipline,  and  this  action  was  later  approved 
by  the  king.  This  jurisdiction  extended  even  to  criminal 
matters  within  the  university,  and  to  all  cases,  offences, 
and  crimes  relating  to  the  affairs  of  the  university.  By 
the  end  of  the  century,  the  funds  of  the  university  de- 
signed to  furnish  the  salaries  of  the  professorships  were 
practically  exhausted,  and  King  Philip  III  undertook  to 
renew  them  from  the  royal  treasury.  He  was  moved  to 
tnis  action  by  the  request  of  the  viceroy,  Juan  de  Mendoza 
y Luna,  the  Marquis  of  Montesclaros,  who  thus  contri- 
buted, in  1614,  to  the  re-establishment  of  the  university, 
which  had  fallen  into  great  poverty.1 

1 Important  points  in  the  early  history  of  the  university  are  con- 
tained in  two  inscriptions  taken  from  the  interior  of  one  of  the  buildings  : 

“ 1553.  Carlos  V,  emperador-rey  de  las  Espanas  y de  las  Indias  d 
peticion  de  la  ciudad  de  Lima  mando  fundar  esta  Universidad  de  es- 
tudios  en  el  convento  de  la  orden  de  predicadores  de  la  misma  ciudad. 
Fue  trasladada  a este  sitio  por  su  rector  y doctores,  y le  fueron  senalados 
estipendios  reales  por  mandado  del  Rey  Felipe  II,  por  D.  Francisco 
de  Toledo  su  Virey  el  cual  hizo  sus  leyes  y estatutos  ano  de  1577.” 

" 1613.  Disminuidos  y exhaustos  los  estipendios  de  las  cdtedras, 
ocurrio  el  Rey  Felipe  III  a mejorarlos  y asegurarlos  con  sus  reales 
tesoros  & instancias  del  probido  Virey  D.  Juan  de  Mendoza  y Luna 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  329 


VII 

While  the  purpose  of  the  university  was  to  increase 
the  intellectual  cultivation  in  Peru,  and  to  extend  the 
range  of  thought,  the  Inquisition  tended  to  suppress  in- 
dependent thought  and  to  destroy  the  very  basis  of 
liberal  cultivation.  The  long  conflict  with  the  Moors 
stimulated  in  the  Spaniards  a form  of  faith  which  had  its 
logical  expression  in  the  Inquisition.  Intolerance,  the 
legitimate  consequence  of  Spanish  faith,  was  Spanish 
America’s  unfortunate  inheritance  from  the  mother  coun- 
try. It  manifested  itself  in  the  colonies  before  the  organi- 
sation of  the  Tribunal  which  was  designed  to  call  heretics 
to  account  and  to  uphold  the  purity  of  Christian  belief 
as  interpreted  by  the  Church  and  the  Crown  of  Spain. 
When  it  was  found  to  be  impracticable  to  try  in  Spain 
persons  who  had  offended  against  the  Church  in  the  New 
World,  the  Holy  Office  consented  to  delegate  its  powers 
to  certain  persons  who  were  not  members  of  the  regu- 
larly constituted  tribunal.  After  the  Church  had  been 
systematically  organised  in  the  colonies,  the  bishops 
ordinarily  became  the  delegates.  But  earlier  the  inquisi- 
torial powers  had  been  vested  in  different  persons.  Al- 
fonso Manso,  Bishop  of  Porto  Rico,  and  the  Dominican 
friar,  Pedro  de  Cordova,  appear  to  have  been  the  first  in- 
quisitors in  the  Indies. 

In  1524  the  Franciscan  friar,  Martin  de  Valencia, 
went  to  New  Spain,  and  was  appointed  to  be  the  commis- 
sary of  the  Inquisition  in  that  colony.  A general  plan 
for  having  the  functions  of  the  Inquisition  performed  in 
America  was  established  by  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo 
acting  as  inquisitor-general,  when  he  provided  that  the 

marques  de  Montesclaros  que  por  el  bien  publico  cuido  de  restablecer 
esta  Universidad  casi  destituida.  Ano  de  1614.”  See  Mendiburu, 
viii.  39. 


330  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


bishops  should  be  inquisitors.1  He  required  them  “ to 
proceed  in  questions  of  faith  that  might  present  them- 
selves in  their  districts  not  only  by  the  ordinary  autho- 
rity which  belonged  to  their  office  and  dignity  as  pastors 
of  their  flocks,  but  also  by  that  delegated  by  apostolic 
inquisitors.2 

Under  this  provision  Juan  de  Zumarraga,  the  first 
Bishop  of  Mexico,  was  given  power  to  hold  inquisitorial 
trials.  The  exercise  of  this  power  had  an  unfortunate 
beginning  in  the  burning  of  an  Indian  alive.3 

The  visitador,  Francisco  Tello  de  Sandoval,  who  went 
to  Mexico  a little  later  to  introduce  the  New  Laws,  had, 
in  addition  to  his  political  functions,  also  the  power  of  an 
inquisitor.  But  the  period  of  social  disturbance  caused 
by  the  project  to  carry  out  the  New  Laws  was  not  favour- 
able for  psychological  inquiries  into  the  beliefs  or  doubts 
of  the  inhabitants  concerning  religious  questions.  Nearly 
three  decades  after  the  publication  of  the  New  Laws, 
Philip  II  issued  the  decree,  January  25,  1569,  which 
established  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  in  Mexico  as 
well  as  in  other  parts  of  Spanish  America.  In  the  mean- 
time, during  a period  of  thirty  years,  the  bishops  of 
America  exercised  the  functions  of  inquisitors  in  addition 
to  those  which  regularly  belonged  to  their  episcopal 
offices.  That  they  exercised  the  full  authority  of  the 
Inquisition  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  first  Archbishop 
of  Lima,  Geronimo  de  Loayza,  held  an  auto-de-fe  in  that 
city  in  1548,  at  which  Jan  Miller,  a Fleming,  was  burnt 
for  Protestantism.  There  were  also  cases  under  epis- 
copal authority  in  1560,  1564,  and  1565. 4 

1 Herrera,  Dec.  II,  lib.  ii.  58  (ed.  Madrid,  1601). 

2 Solorzano,  Politica  Indiana  (Amberes,  1703),  361a. 

3 Riva  Palacio,  Mexico  u tracts  de  los  siglos,  ii.  1 10. 

4 Medina,  Inquisicidn  de  Lima,  i.  25;  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  i.  18. 
Calancha,  Crdnica,  618,  affirms  that  the  archbishop  celebrated  three 
autos,  thus  attributing  to  Loayza  those  celebrated  in  Cuzco  and  La 
Plata.  Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  330,  refers 
to  three  celebrated  by  the  archbishop.  See  also  Palma,  Anales  de  la 
Inquisicidn  de  Lima. 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  331 

The  inquisitorial  authority  of  the  bishops  was  super- 
seded by  that  of  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  in  1569. 
In  that  year,  Servan  de  Cerezuela  was  appointed  inquisitor 
for  the  provinces  of  Peru,  and  Dr.  Andres  de  Bustamante 
was  made  his  colleague.  Two  other  important  officials 
were  Pedro  de  Alcedo,  the  attorney,  and  Eusebio  de 
Arrieta,  the  secretary.  On  the  19th  of  March  1569,  they 
sailed  from  San  Lucar  in  the  ship  Madalena,  and  reached 
the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  on  the  28th  of  April.  Having 
arrived  at  Cartagena  on  the  8th  of  May,  they  were  de- 
tained there  several  days  for  lack  of  wind,  but  finally 
reached  Nombre  de  Dios  on  the  1st  of  June.  Bustamante 
died  at  Panama. 

Before  they  left  the  Isthmus,  the  inquisitors  found 
that  the  money  they  had  taken  with  them  was  spent, 
and  no  one  was  willing  to  loan  money  to  them  without 
interest.  Finally  Barros,  a judge  at  Panama,  turned  over 
to  them  two  thousand  dollars  from  the  funds  that  had 
been  deposited  in  his  charge  by  private  persons,  and  thus 
the  three  surviving  members  were  able  to  continue  their 
journey.1 

The  object  of  the  Inquisition,  established  in  Peru  by 
the  decree  of  January  25,  1569,  as  set  forth  in  that  decree, 
was  to  secure  the  extension  of  “ the  holy  evangelical  law, 
to  preserve  it  free  from  errors  and  false  and  suspicious 
doctrines,  and  to  maintain  devotion  and  good  repute 
among  the  discoverers,  the  settlers,  and  their  descendants, 
the  vassals  of  the  king.”  The  reason  alleged  for  the 
foundation  was  discovered  in  the  belief  that  those  persons 
who  were  not  in  obedience  to  the  Holy  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  who  remained  obstinate  in  their  errors  and 
heresy,  were  always  able  to  pervert  and  draw  Christians 
away  from  the  holy  Catholic  faith,  by  communicating  to 
them  their  false  opinions  and  heresies.  The  remedy 
sought  was  to  remove  or  exclude  such  persons  from  all 
communication  with  the  faithful.  To  this  end,  officials 

1 Medina,  Historia  de  la  Inquisition  de  Lima,  i.  6. 


332  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  corporations  were  required  to  receive  the  members  of 
the  Inquisition  with  becoming  respect  and  reverence, 
keeping  in  view  the  sacred  ministry  which  they  were  sent 
to  execute.1 

The  Tribunal  thus  founded,  and  having  its  seat  in 
Lima,  embraced  within  its  jurisdiction  in  the  beginning 
all  of  Spain’s  possessions  in  South  America. 

By  a decree  that  became  a part  of  the  laws  of  the 
Indies,  the  king  placed  the  inquisitors,  their  agents,  and 
their  property  immediately  under  his  protection.  Any- 
one causing  them  injury  would  be  subject  to  the  same 
penalties  as  those  who  dared  to  disturb  the  security  of 
the  king,  and  no  civil  official,  from  the  lowest  judge  in 
Spanish  America  up  to  the  members  of  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  might  resist  them  or  place  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  their  performance  of  their  prescribed  duties. 
The  institution  and  all  of  its  members  were,  moreover, 
free  from  all  forms  of  taxes  or  burdensome  contributions.2 3 

They  enjoyed  not  only  this  exemption,  but  in  addition 
the  butchers  of  the  city  where  the  inquisitors  or  their 
agents  lived  were  required  to  furnish  them  without  charge 
whatever  meat  they  needed  for  consumption  in  their 
houses.  Funds  for  the  payment  of  their  salaries  were  to 
be  obtained  by  suppressing  a canonicate  in  each  of  the 
cathedrals  of  the  Indies,  and  applying  to  this  object  the 
revenues  thus  liberated.  With  these  privileges  in  view, 
many  persons  were  naturally  desirous  of  securing  places 
and  titles  as  members  or  attaches  of  the  Inquisition  ; and 
as  a result  of  the  influence  they  were  able  to  exert  there 
appeared  very  early  more  occupants  of  inferior  positions 
than  had  been  provided  for  in  the  beginning.  In  the 
capital,  in  1672,  there  were  forty  familiars  instead  of 


1 The  royal  decree  establishing  the  Inquisition  in  America.  This 
document  is  printed  in  Medina’s  Inquisici&n  en  Chile,  i.  146-8.  See 
also  Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  i.  tit.  xix.  ley  i ; Medina,  La  Inquisicidn  en 

el  Rio  de  la  Plata,  48. 

3 Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  i.  tit.  xix.  ley  2. 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  333 

the  twelve  for  whom  provision  had  been  originally 
made.1 

An  additional  provision  was  that  there  should  be 
four  familiars  in  each  capital  of  a bishopric,  and  one  in 
each  of  the  other  towns,  yet  in  Santiago  eight  were 
appointed. 

The  inquisitors  set  sail  from  Panama  for  Peru,  August 
15,  1569,  and  landed  at  Paita  thirty-one  days  later.  On 
the  29th  of  January  1570,  Cerezuela  made  his  formal 
entry  into  Lima,  somewhat  more  than  eight  months  after 
he  left  Spain,  and  two  months  after  his  arrival  at  that 
city,  which  was  on  the  28th  of  November  1569.  After 
the  formal  ceremonies  of  reception,  the  first  business  of 
the  inquisitors  was  to  obtain  quarters  for  the  Tribunal 
and  the  prison.  These  they  requested  from  the  civil 
authorities,  and  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  be 
apart  from  the  public  offices  on  account  of  the  absolute 
secrecy  that  was  to  cover  all  of  their  transactions.  “ No 
one  might  utter  an  opinion  concerning  their  decisions, 
and,  except  the  autos-de-fe  to  which  the  public  was  invited, 
and  at  which  were  seen  to  appear  from  time  to  time  the 
unfortunates  condemned  either  to  abjuration  or  death, 
nothing  was  known  by  persons  living  at  the  time.”  2 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  the  inquisitors  published  an 
edict,  setting  forth  their  authority  and  the  assistance  they 
expected  from  all  the  faithful  in  bringing  to  light  and  to 
trial  all  persons  guilty  of  heresy  or  of  any  form  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  Church.  The  instructions  which  they  had 
received  required  them  to  leave  the  Indians  as  an  excep- 
tion, and  not  to  subject  them  to  trials  for  their  opinions 
or  their  faith.  Exercising  practically  unlimited  power 
and  enjoying  the  special  protection  of  the  king,  the  in- 


1 Medina,  Historia  de  la  Inquisici&n  de  Lima,  i.,  ii. ; Leyes  de  Indias, 
lib.  i.  tit.  xix.  ley  30. 

2 Medina,  Inquisici&n  en  las  Provincias  de  Plata,  viii.  ; Odriozola, 
Documentos  lit.  del  Peru,  iv.  364  ; Medina,  Inquisici&n  en  Chile , i.  194  ; 
Mendiburu,  ii.  355. 


334  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

quisitors  displayed  an  intolerable  arrogance  and  insolence. 
They  broke  over  the  limits  that  had  been  prescribed  for 
their  jurisdiction,  and  invaded  every  department  of  life. 
Within  a few  years  after  the  founding  of  the  institution, 
the  audiencia  of  Lima  saw  itself  obliged  to  appeal  to  the 
monarch  and  denounce  to  him  the  abuses  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion ; and  even  the  Archbishop  of  Lima  participated  in 
the  long  line  of  complaints  and  denunciations  that  con- 
tinued through  the  following  decades.  By  these  the  king 
was  finally  moved  to  attempt  to  correct  these  abuses,  and 
a decree  designed  to  limit  the  power  of  the  inquisitors 
was  issued  in  1610,  and  became  known  as  the  Concordia } 
With  the  absolutism  of  the  Inquisition  grounded  on 
the  papal  bull  of  1569,  and  supported  by  the  oaths  taken 
by  officials,  it  was  difficult  to  make  effective  the  proposed 
limitations.1 2  The  viceroy,  in  taking  his  oath  of  office, 
swore  “ to  defend  with  all  his  power  the  Catholic  faith  as 
held  by  the  Holy  Mother  Apostolic  Church  of  Rome  ; to 
preserve  and  extend  this  faith  ; to  prosecute  and  cause 
to  be  prosecuted  heretics  and  apostates  opposed  to  it  ; 
to  give  favour  and  necessary  support  to  the  Holy  Office 
of  the  Inquisition  and  its  officials,  in  order  that  the  heret- 
ical disturbers  of  our  Christian  religion  may  be  taken 
and  punished  in  accordance  with  the  right  and  sacred 
canons,  without  the  omission  or  exception  of  any  person, 
whatever  may  be  his  rank.”  The  oaths  taken  by  the 
audiencia  and  the  people  were  not  less  positive.3  More- 
over, the  knowledge  that  the  most  absurd  declarations 
would  be  received  and  made  the  basis  of  action  by  the 
Tribunal,  led  to  great  licence  in  denunciation,  and  de- 
stroyed the  confidence  of  man  in  his  fellow-man.  In 
many  instances  the  husband  denounced  his  wife,  and  the 

1 Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  i.  152-63  ; La  Inquisicidn  en  el 
Rio  de  la  Plata,  50-6. 

2 This  document  is  referred  to  in  Medina’s  Inquisicidn  en  Chile, 
i.  165-71. 

3 Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  i.  171-4. 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  335 

wife  her  husband  ; brother  denounced  brother  ; the  friar 
denounced  his  companions  ; and  thus  all  the  bonds  of 
social  faith  were  broken.  With  men  of  all  ranks  demand- 
ing action,  it  was  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  Tri- 
bunal to  limit  the  field  of  its  operations,  even  if  it  had 
been  moved  with  a desire  to  do  so. 

The  procedure  of  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition 
differed  in  certain  essential  particulars  from  that  of  an 
enlightened  civil  court.  A case  was  initiated  by  an  ac- 
cusation either  written  or  oral,  and  was  then  conducted 
without  considering  a possible  defence.  It  was  assumed 
to  be  the  duty  of  every  person  to  bring  charges  to  the 
Tribunal,  whenever  there  should  come  to  his  knowledge 
any  utterance  or  action  on  which  an  accusation  could  be 
grounded.  Whether  any  given  item  of  evidence  should 
be  received  or  rejected  depended  upon  its  bearing  in  the 
case.  The  testimony  of  persons  excommunicated,  ac- 
complices of  the  prisoner,  infidels,  Jews,  criminals  of  all 
sorts,  even  heretics,  was  accepted,  provided  it  was  against 
the  accused,  but  was  rejected  if  it  was  in  his  favour. 
Various  devices  were  adopted  to  prevent  the  prisoner 
from  finding  out  who  were  testifying  against  him  ; or, 
if  he  knew  the  persons,  to  prevent  him  from  knowing 
what  evidence  each  or  any  of  them  offered.  When  torture 
was  decreed  in  order  to  extort  a confession,  it  was  provided 
that  it  should  be  inflicted  in  the  presence  of  the  ordinary 
and  at  least  one  of  the  judges.  At  first  the  judge  might 
excuse  himself  on  account  of  illness  ; but  after  torture 
had  been  applied  without  the  presence  of  any  of  the 
judges,  and  at  least  one  person  had  died  in  the  process, 
it  was  no  longer  permitted  that  all  the  judges  might  be 
absent. 

When  a prisoner  had  been  notified  of  his  sentence, 
he  was  visited  by  a priest,  whose  function  was  not  to 
give  him  any  hope  of  escaping  the  penalty  of  death,  but 
to  encourage  him  to  make  his  peace  with  God,  that  it 
might  be  well  with  him  in  the  future.  If  he  remained 


336  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

obdurate,  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  better  to  do  with 
him  than  to  burn  him  alive. 

In  order  to  make  the  Inquisition  effective  in  the  pro- 
vinces far  from  Lima,  it  was  necessary  that  the  central 
tribunal  shouid  have  agents  in  these  provinces.  This 
need  gave  origin  to  a plan  providing  for  commissaries  in 
the  principal  cities  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  tribunal 
at  Lima.  But  a difficulty  arose  here  in  the  want  of  men 
in  the  distant  provinces  fitted  to  assume  the  grave  re- 
sponsibilities of  guardians  of  the  faith.  The  friar,  Juan 
de  Vega,  was  sent  from  Lima  to  Chile  to  investigate  the 
condition  of  the  Church,  and  his  report  indicated  a some- 
what hopeless  state  of  affairs,  and  pointed  out  the  diffi- 
culty of  finding  persons  on  whom  the  Tribunal  could 
safely  rely.  Cerezuela,  however,  in  April  1572,  ap- 
pointed Melchor  Calderon  commissary  in  the  bishopric 
of  Santiago,  and  Dean  Cisneros  in  the  bishopric  of  Im- 
perial. Calderon  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  was  the 
treasurer  of  the  cathedral  of  Santiago.  Cisneros  had 
received  the  degrees  of  bachelor  and  licentiate  at  the 
University  of  Salamanca,  and  was  a lawyer  in  Medina 
before  he  left  Spain  for  Chile  in  1554.  In  order  that  the 
arms  of  the  Inquisition  might  be  more  widely  extended, 
the  commissaries  proposed  vicarios  for  the  cities  of  Serena, 
Chilian,  Concepcion,  Angol,  Villarica,  Osomo,  Valdivia, 
and  Castro. 

Instructions  issued  by  the  Tribunal  indicate  the 
general  course  of  conduct  which  the  commissary  was  ex- 
pected to  follow.  He  was  not  to  become  involved  in  the 
affairs  of  the  secular  or  ecclesiastical  judges,  but  only  to 
execute  the  orders  and  commissions  of  the  inquisitors, 
and  to  receive  information  in  matters  of  faith,  and  trans- 
mit it  to  the  inquisitors.  These  instructions  deal,  more- 
over, with  the  manner  of  taking  evidence,  and  of  re- 
ceiving the  confessions  of  criminals.  But  many  things 
were  omitted  because  special  orders  addressed  to  the 
commissaries  were  to  be  accompanied  by  specific  direc- 


VICEROY  FRANCISCO  DE  TOLEDO  337 

tions  as  to  the  manner  of  proceeding  under  these 
orders.1 

The  great  distance  of  the  provinces  of  Rio  de  la  Plata 
from  Lima,  and  the  large  number  of  cases,  particularly 
of  Portuguese  Jews,  that  demanded  the  attention  of  the 
Inquisition,  suggested,  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  advisability  of  establishing  a tribunal  in 
one  of  the  cities  of  these  provinces.  This  project  was 
discussed  in  communications  between  the  Crown  and  the 
Council  of  the  Indies,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  viceroy 
and  other  officers  of  the  American  administration,  on 
the  other  hand  ; but  it  was  temporarily  abandoned,  and 
somewhat  later,  in  1662,  taken  up  again.  Then  after 
an  interruption  of  nearly  a century,  it  was  resumed 
in  1754,  but,  fortunately  for  the  inhabitants  of  Buenos 
Aires,  where  it  was  proposed  to  establish  the  tribunal, 
the  plan  was  disapproved  by  the  king.2 

1 The  text  of  the  instructions  signed  by  Eusebio  de  Arrieta,  the 
secretary  of  the  Tribunal,  are  printed  in  Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile, 
i.  232-4.  Later,  more  elaborate  instructions  to  commissaries  were 
published  in  Lima  : La  Instruccidn  y Orden  quc  comunmente  han  de 
guardar  los  comisarios  y notarios  del  Santo  Oficio  de  la  Inquisicidn  del 
Peru,  cerca  de  procesar  en  las  causas  de  fe  y criminates  de  ministros,  en 
que  fueren  reos  y contra  el  honor  del  Santo  Oficio  (Lima,  1796).  Ibid.,  235. 

2 Medina,  La  Inquisicidn  en  el  Rio  de  la  Plata,  199-224. 


VOL.  I 


Y 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA 

I.  The  establishment  of  the  Tribunal.  II.  Early  cases  tried. 

III.  Internal  controversy  and  witchcraft. 

I 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  in  Lima, 
it  became  evident  that,  on  account  of  the  great  extent  of 
the  viceroyalty,  it  would  be  difficult  to  bring  all  the 
accused  and  the  necessary  witnesses  to  the  capital  for 
trial.  On  the  28th  of  April  1600,  the  inquisitor  Antonio 
Ordonez  wrote  to  the  king  suggesting  the  establishment 
of  tribunals  in  other  cities.  In  his  opinion,  the  tribunal 
of  the  Inquisition  of  Lima,  should  have  as  its  district 
the  archbishopric  of  Lima,  the  bishoprics  of  Cuzco,  Quito, 
and  Panama,  and  the  kingdom  of  Chile ; and  twro  other 
tribunals  should  be  created  : one  in  the  city  of  La  Plata, 
which  should  have  jurisdiction  throughout  the  bishoprics 
of  Charcas,  Tucuman,  and  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  the  terri- 
tory of  Santa  Cruz  de  la  Sierra  ; and  another  in  Bogotd, 
w'hich  should  have  as  its  districts  the  bishoprics  of  Popa- 
yan,  Cartagena,  Santa  Marta,  and  Venezuela. 

Archbishop  Lobo  Guerrero  wrote  to  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  and  advocated  a plan  similar  to  that  suggested 
by  Ordonez  ; and,  after  more  or  less  mature  deliberation, 
the  council  decided  to  establish  a tribunal  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion at  Santo  Domingo  and  another  at  Cartagena.  These 
were  prominent  ports,  where  foreigners  seeking  to  enter 
Spain’s  American  possessions  might  be  expected  to  land, 
and  where  it  was,  therefore,  desirable  to  have  means  for 

detecting  and  punishing  heresy.  It  was,  however,  finally 

338 


INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA  339 

determined  to  make  Cartagena  the  seat  of  an  inquisitorial 
tribunal,  and  to  subject  to  its  jurisdiction  the  archbishop- 
rics of  Santo  Domingo  and  Bogota  and  the  bishoprics  of 
Cartagena,  Panama,  Santa  Marta,  Porto  Rico,  Popayan, 
Venezuela,  and  Santiago  de  Cuba.  The  decree  establish- 
ing the  Inquisition  at  Cartagena  was  dated  February  25, 
1610. 

The  inquisitors  appointed  to  organise  the  Inquisition 
at  Cartagena  were  Juan  de  Manozca  and  Mateo  de  Salcedo 
They  reached  Seville  in  the  beginning  of  June  1610,  and 
embarked  at  Cadiz  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month.  The 
voyage  to  the  island  of  Guadelupe  lasted  thirty-four  days, 
and  on  the  9th  of  August  they  arrived  at  Santo  Domingo. 
The  few  days  during  which  they  remained  at  Santo 
Domingo  were  filled  with  visits  of  ceremony,  and  with 
various  exercises  in  honour  of  the  inquisitors.  While 
here  they  appointed  Juan  Nunez  Tenorio  to  be  the  com- 
missary for  this  part  of  their  district,  and  on  the  4th  of 
September  they  entered  upon  the  journey  to  Cartagena- 
On  this  voyage  they  encountered  severe  storms,  and  after 
six  days  arrived  at  their  destination.  Here  the  cere- 
monies of  Santo  Domingo  were  repeated.  They  sent  the 
decree  establishing  the  tribunal  to  the  governor,  and  were 
then  visited  by  a representative  of  the  governor,  by  the 
majority  of  the  municipal  council,  by  the  royal  officials, 
and  by  officials  of  the  cathedral,  representing  the  bishop. 
Towards  evening  of  the  day  of  their  arrival,  the  governor 
sent  two  large  boats  that  were  furnished  with  rugs  and 
velvet  cushions,  with  a delegation  of  distinguished  persons 
to  accompany  the  inquisitors  to  the  shore.  On  landing 
they  were  saluted  by  the  fort  and  by  the  vessels  in  the 
harbour,  and  were  received  by  Governor  Fernandez  de 
Velasco,  General  Francisco  Vanegas,  the  secular  and 
ecclesiastical  cabildos,  and  all  the  persons  of  distinction 
in  the  city,  who  accompanied  them  to  the  Franciscan 
monastery,  which  had  been  selected  as  the  most  commo- 
dious place  for  their  residence.  The  soldiers,  who  were 


340  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


stationed  along  the  streets  through  which  the  inquisitors 
passed,  saluted  them  by  dipping  their  flags  and  discharging 
their  firearms.  From  the  monastery,  the  inquisitors  sent 
to  the  bishop  and  the  governor  the  royal  order  concerning 
their  reception,  and  after  this  had  been  deliberately  con- 
sidered, the  prelate  and  the  other  authorities  went  mounted 
to  the  monastery,  on  Sunday,  the  26th  of  September, 
and  escorted  the  inquisitors  to  the  cathedral ; and  on 
entering  the  edifice,  they  were  received  by  the  singing  of 
the  Te  Deum  and  by  the  celebration  of  a solemn  mass. 
At  a certain  point  in  this  ceremony,  the  notary  ascended 
the  pulpit  and  read  the  powers,  provisions,  and  decrees 
issued  by  the  king  and  the  inquisitor-general ; and  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  mass  the  inquisitors  were  escorted 
back  to  the  monastery  in  the  same  manner  and  order 
that  had  been  observed  in  proceeding  to  the  cathedral.1 

Since  there  was  no  edifice  in  Cartagena  that  might 
properly  furnish  permanent  quarters  for  the  Inquisition, 
the  construction  of  a suitable  building  was  undertaken, 
and  three  houses  were  rented  for  temporary  use.  Then, 
on  the  last  day  of  November,  the  inquisitors  went  again 
to  the  cathedral  to  read  the  edict  concerning  the  faith, 
which  was  at  once  an  exhortation  and  a fundamental 
rule  for  the  proceedings  of  the  Inquisition.  It  specified, 
as  persons  to  be  reported  and  corrected,  Jews,  Mohamme- 
dans, Lutherans,  and  the  Illuminati ; and  enumerated 
the  various  heresies  and  vices  for  which  persons  might  be 
called  to  account.2 


II 

Immediately  after  the  publication  of  this  decree,  the 
inhabitants  of  Cartagena  manifested  a certain  reluctance 
to  approach  the  tribunal ; but  a little  later  the  universal 

1 Medina,  Historia  del  Tribunal  del  Santo  Oficio  de  la  Inquiscidn  de 
Cartagena  de  las  Indias  (Santiago  de  Chile,  1899),  46-50. 

2 This  document  is  printed  in  Medina,  La  Inquisicidr  en  Cartagena, 
50-69. 


INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA  341 

willingness  to  find  the  conduct  of  one’s  neighbour  not  quite 
correct  caused  a flood  of  complaints  and  charges  to  be 
poured  into  the  office  of  the  Inquisition.  One  of  the 
abominable  features  of  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  is 
discovered  in  the  fact  that  it  presented  to  all  persons  a 
temptation  and  an  opportunity  to  exercise  with  impunity 
the  very  general  propensity  of  human  beings  to  accuse 
their  fellows  of  evil.  It  was  impossible  in  the  beginning 
for  the  Inquisition  to  act  on  all  the  charges  that  were 
brought  to  it,  and  arrest  the  persons  accused,  on  account 
of  the  lack  of  an  adequate  prison.  Another  hindrance 
consisted  in  the  difficulty  of  finding  persons  fitted  by  their 
education  to  perform  the  various  functions  required  of 
assistants  to  the  inquisitors  ; for  the  town  of  Cartagena 
had  at  the  period  in  question,  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  not  more  than  five  hundred  inhabitants, 
and  the  number  of  persons  who  had  a legal  or  a theological 
training  was  extremely  limited.  Since  this  was  true  of 
Cartagena,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  difficulty  that 
was  experienced  in  finding  proper  agents  or  commissaries 
in  the  less  populous  parts  of  the  district. 

Clothed  with  their  extraordinary  authority,  the  in- 
quisitors very  early  manifested  a desire  to  have  their 
precedence  recognised  by  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
officers  ; and  since  there  was  no  universal  acceptance  of 
this  view,  a new  element  of  discord  was  introduced  into 
the  community.  The  prestige  of  the  institution  depended 
to  a certain  extent,  on  its  ability  to  deal,  without  delay, 
with  the  cases  that  were  presented  to  it ; and  in  order 
that  it  might  be  equipped  for  this  purpose  as  early  as 
possible,  it  proceeded  to  construct  a prison  in  one  of  the 
houses  that  had  been  procured  for  its  temporary  use. 
But  during  the  first  three  or  four  years  the  cases  tried 
were  neither  very  numerous  nor  very  important.  There 
were  in  all  not  more  than  thirty.  Two  of  these  were 
Augustinians,  two  Franciscans,  who  were  tried  for  pro- 
positions thought  to  be  heretical,  and  six  were  women, 


342  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

who  were  accused  of  sorcery.  Still,  on  the  2nd  of 
February  1614,  an  auto-de-Je  was  celebrated  “ with  much 
applause  and  satisfaction  of  the  whole  city  and  of  many 
persons  who  assembled  that  day  from  the  region  about 
the  city  to  see  a thing  so  new  in  these  parts.”  1 

The  power  of  the  Inquisition  to  confiscate  the  property 
of  its  victims,  and  turn  it  to  the  uses  of  the  tribunal,  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  inquisitors  a source  of  income  quite 
independent  of  the  royal  treasury.  They  were  thus 
subject  to  the  temptation  to  condemn  the  accused  who 
were  wealthy.  In  the  first  auto-de-fe,  Luis  Andrea,  a 
mestizo,  who  was  charged  of  having  a compact  with  the 
devil,  suffered  confiscation  of  his  property,  besides  various 
other  penalties.  Andres  de  Cuevas  was  condemned  to 
one  hundred  lashes,  perpetual  banishment,  and  to  con- 
tribute three  thousand  pesos  towards  the  expenses  of 
the  Inquisition.  The  early  punishments  of  the  Inquisition 
in  Cartagena  were  imposed  for  utterances  thought  to  be 
heretical,  for  witchcraft,  or  for  other  real  or  fancied 
offences  that  might  very  well  have  gone  unpunished.  A 
widow  named  Maria  de  Olaneaga  was  condemned  for 
calling  upon  the  devil  in  an  affair  of  love,  with  the  design 
of  marrying  a second  time  ; Isabel  de  Carvajal,  for  a 
similar  invocation  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  whether 
a certain  man  who  was  absent  from  Cartagena  would 
return.  Juan  de  Cardenas  was  sixty  years  of  age,  and 
when  asked  to  take  part  in  a play  celebrating  San  Ignacio, 
he  said,  “ Valga  el  diablo  al  Padre  Ignacio,”  and  for  this 
remark  he  was  tried  and  condemned  by  the  Inquisition. 
For  the  majority  of  the  cases  examined  by  the  inquisitors 
the  punishments  imposed  were  more  severe  than  the 
offences  justly  merited. 

Cartagena  was  disturbed  not  only  by  the  prosecutions 

1 Letter  by  Salcedo  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  February  1 8,  1614, 
quoted  by  Medina,  La  Inquisition  en  Cartagena,  82.  The  description  of 
this  first  auto-de-f£  of  Cartagena,  which  was  sent  to  the  Council  of  the 
Indies  by  the  inquisitors,  is  printed  in  Medina,  La  Inquisition  en  Carta- 
gena, 83-92. 


INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA  343 

of  the  Inquisition,  but  also  by  conflicts  among  the  various 
ecclesiastical  factions,  which  ranged  themselves  into  two 
hostile  groups.  The  Franciscans,  the  Augustinians,  the 
Mercedarios,  and  the  Jesuits  formed  one  party,  and  the 
Dominicans  supported  by  the  bishop  constituted  the  other 
party.  If  the  hostility  did  not  result  in  a physical  con- 
flict, it  was  nevertheless  a serious  war  of  words.  From 
the  pulpits,  the  opponents  denounced  and  insulted  one 
another  in  a most  violent  and  unseemly  manner.  The 
inquisitors  attempted  to  intervene  to  abate  the  scandalous 
conduct  of  the  opposing  parties,  and  to  induce  them,  if 
not  to  abandon  their  hostility,  at  least  to  make  their 
pulpit  harangues  more  moderate.  But  the  flame  of 
theological  hatred  could  not  be  easily  extinguished. 

In  Cartagena  there  were  only  two  inquisitors,  in  spite 
of  the  great  extent  of  the  district  covered  by  their  juris- 
diction. The  other  officers  were  an  attorney,  a secretary, 
a constable,  a treasurer,  two  advisers,  and  a warden,  who 
performed  also  the  duties  of  a messenger  and  a porter. 
The  lack  of  a sufficient  number  of  subordinates,  or  assist- 
ants, in  the  different  parts  of  the  district,  led  the  bishops 
to  complain  that  in  their  bishoprics  the  matters  of  faith 
were  neglected.  The  Bishop  of  Panama  referred  to  the 
friar  Francisco  de  la  Cruz,  “ who  was  burned  in  Lima  by 
the  Holy  Inquisition,”  and  called  attention  to  the  case 
of  the  friar’s  son,  the  freedom  of  whose  life  scandalised 
all  the  world.  In  the  extensive  bishopric  of  Cuba,  the 
bishop  assumed  that  the  licentiousness  which  prevailed 
was  due  to  the  absence  of  supervision  by  the  Inquisition  ; 
and  the  lack  of  subordinate  officials  here  as  well  as  in 
other  parts  was  due  to  the  difficulty,  or  impossibility, 
of  finding  satisfactory  persons  to  perform  the  required 
functions ; for  those  appointed  to  be  commissaries 
“ made  a bad  use  of  their  commissions,”  and  it  was  be- 
lieved that  an  investigation  “ would  reveal  many  things 
unworthy  of  their  profession  and  office.”  1 

1 See  Medina,  La  Inquisition  en  Cartagena,  117,  118. 


344  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

The  affairs  of  the  Inquisition  were  not  more  satisfac- 
tory in  Cartagena  than  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  district. 
The  inquisitors  were  unequally  yoked  together.  Salcedo 
was  a man  of  much  experience,  who  had  passed  into  the 
period  of  inaction  and  drivelling  reminiscence.  He  was 
continually  recounting  the  work  of  the  Inquisition  in 
Aragon,  where  he  had  been  the  attorney,  and  also  the 
various  events  of  his  experience  in  that  kingdom. 
Manozca,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a young  man  of  vigorous 
mind,  great  ambition,  and  unlimited  daring.  His  aggres- 
siveness, his  willingness  to  work,  and  his  unbounded  self- 
confidence  made  him  the  real  head  and  effective  force  of 
the  Inquisition.  Whatever  ill-will  the  Inquisition  pro- 
voked in  the  community  was  directed  to  him.  He  was 
the  head  and  front  of  the  offending.  He  set  out  to 
humiliate  the  bishop,  and  to  dominate  the  civil  govern- 
ment ; and  this  last  undertaking  was  facilitated  by  the 
mild  and  generous  disposition  of  the  governor,  Fernandez 
de  Velasco.  But,  in  spite  of  his  patience,  the  governor 
at  last  turned  and  appealed  to  the  king.  He  made 
known  his  attempts  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with 
the  inquisitors,  and  the  ineffectiveness  of  his  example  and 
long-suffering  to  preserve  the  peace  desired.  The  tribunal 
had  gone  so  far  towards  making  itself  feared  and  the 
master  of  all  affairs,  that  the  country  was  terrorised  by 
the  aggressive  action  not  only  of  the  inquisitors,  but  also 
of  their  servants  and  slaves.1 

Ill 

A striking  phenomenon  of  the  early  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century  was  the  appearance  of  witchcraft. 
The  witches  greatly  disturbed  the  communities  where 
they  appeared,  and  their  presence  in  great  numbers 
offered  one  of  the  very  serious  problems,  which  the  in- 
quisitors had  to  face.  When  a person  of  his  own  will 

1 Medina,  La  Inquisicidn  en  Cartagena,  129. 


INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA  345 

was  blasphemous  or  heretical,  the  case  was  simple,  and 
the  inquisitors  had  no  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  punish- 
ing him  ; but  when  a woman  was  drawn  into  a league 
with  the  devil,  and  the  devil  operated  through  her  to  the 
confusion  and  terror  of  her  neighbours,  a more  compli- 
cated question  presented  itself.  The  devil,  who  was  the 
offending  spirit,  was  not  an  ordinary  person  to  be  cited 
before  the  tribunal ; and  in  view  of  the  existence  of  a 
league  between  him  and  a woman,  in  which  the  woman 
was  the  subordinate  member,  the  officers  of  the  tribunal 
might  naturally  raise  a doubt  as  to  the  justice  of  punishing 
the  woman.1 

The  energy  displayed  by  Manozca  in  conducting  the 
affairs  of  the  Inquisition,  and  his  attempt  to  override  the 
bishop  and  the  governor,  raised  against  him  a large  num- 
ber of  enemies,  who,  by  reports  to  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  sought  to  break  down  his  authority  and  effect 
his  removal  from  office.  They  emphasized  especially 
accounts  of  his  immorality,  conscious  that  such  reports 
would  have  more  weight  with  the  council  and  the  king 
than  tales  of  the  harshness  with  which  the  Inquisition 
had  been  administered.  The  Prince  of  Esquilache  was 
commissioned  to  halt  at  Cartagena  on  his  vogage  to  Peru, 
and  to  make  inquiries  concerning  the  state  of  affairs  in 
that  province,  and  particularly  concerning  the  conduct 


1 Referring  to  this  subject,  Medina  calls  attention  to  the  book 
by  Gaspar  Navarro,  which  was  printed  in  Huesca  in  1631,  and  which 
was  called  Tribunal  de  superstition  ladina,  explorador  del  saber,  astucia 
y poder  del  demomo,  en  que  se  condena  lo  que  suele  correr  por  bueno  en 
hechizos,  agiieros,  ensalmos,  vanos  saludones,  etc.,  in  which  the  author  de- 
scribed with  much  erudition  " the  subject-matter  indicated  in  the  title 
of  the  work,  the  reading  of  which  is  indispensable  for  an  explanation  of 
the  beliefs  of  the  Spaniards  of  the  seventeenth  century  ” respecting 
the  treatment  of  witchcraft.  Medina  refers  also  to  Alonso  de  Sandoval's 
Naturaleza,  historia  sagrada  y profana,  costumbres  y ritos,  disciplina 
y catecismo  evangelico  de  todos  etiopes.  The  author  was  rector  of  the 
Colegio  de  la  Compania  de  Jesus  de  Cartagena,  and  his  book  was 
published  in  Seville  in  1627.  In  it  “ one  finds  described  in  extenso 
whatever  appertains  to  those  negroes  who  were  tried  by  the  inquisi- 
tion ” (La  Inquisicidn  en  Cartagena,  121). 


346  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

of  Manozca.  Although  Esquilache’s  report  was  favour- 
able to  the  inquisitor,  still  adverse  accounts  from  other 
quarters  continued  to  reach  the  council  in  considerable 
numbers  ; and  an  order  was  finally  issued,  requiring 
Manozca  to  present  himself  before  the  council.  The 
inquisitor,  therefore,  sailed  for  Spain  near  the  end  of 
July  1620,  and  three  months  later  he  appeared  in  Madrid. 
With  the  letters  of  commendation  which  he  had  received 
from  his  friends  in  Cartagena,  and  other  documents,  he 
made  so  effective  a defence  that  in  the  following  April 
the  inquisitor-general  wrote  to  the  Inquisition  in  Carta- 
gena that  Manozca  would  return  to  his  seat  in  the  tribunal. 

During  the  absence  of  Manozca,  Salcedo  continued 
the  conflict  with  the  bishop  and  the  civil  authorities,  and 
at  the  same  time  much  of  the  inquisitor’s  attention  was 
absorbed  by  new  cases  of  witchcraft.  Shortly  after 
Manozca’s  return,  an  auto-de-fe  was  celebrated,  March  13, 
1622,  at  which,  for  the  first  time,  a victim  was  burned 
at  Cartagena.  On  this  occasion  Manozca  was  the  sole 
inquisitor,  for  Salcedo  had  died  on  the  27th  of  December 
1621.  The  person  burned  was  an  Enghshman,  thirty- 
two  years  of  age,  a Protestant,  who  adhered  to  his  heresy 
in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  convert  him,  and  who,  to  quote 
the  statement  of  the  inquisitor,  “ seated  himself,  of  his 
own  will,  without  being  bound,  upon  the  bundles  of  wood, 
and  remained  there  without  moving  one  of  his  feet  from 
where  he  had  placed  them.”  Of  the  other  victims,  six 
were  witches,  and  the  eighth  was  a Spaniard  accused  of 
bigamy.  Manozca,  as  a reward  for  his  zeal,  was  pro- 
moted to  the  Inquisition  of  Lima,  and  Agustin  de  Ugarte 
y Saravia  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  A few  years 
later,  the  famous  auto-de-fe  of  June  17,  1626,  was  cele- 
brated, after  elaborate  preparations,  winch  had  lasted  for 
two  months.1 

1 An  account  of  the  ceremony  and  of  the  twenty-two  victims,  by  an 
eye-witness,  is  printed  in  Medina,  La  I nquisicion  en  Cartagena,  175-94. 
In  Manozca’s  account  of  the  auto-de-Jt  of  1623,  the  name  of  the  English- 
man who  was  burned  is  given  as  Adan  Edon.  See  Medina,  158. 


INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA  347 

With  the  transfer  of  the  inquisitor  Ugarte  y Saravia 
to  the  diocese  of  Chiapa  in  March  1629,  Martin  de  Cor- 
tazar  y Azearate,  the  brother  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bogota, 
was  appointed  to  the  seat  in  the  Inquisition  thus  made 
vacant.  The  other  inquisitor  at  this  time  was  Velez  y 
Argos.  The  expectations  of  the  inquisitors  that  the  mild- 
ness of  the  governor  would  permit  them  to  dominate  the 
affairs  of  the  district  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
That  officer  had  gradually  laid  aside  his  pacific  policy, 
and,  with  the  accession  of  Francisco  de  Murga,  the  in- 
quisitors found  that  they  had  to  deal  with  one  who  was 
not  disposed  to  be  submissive,  but  to  exercise  whatever 
authority  the  law  imposed  upon  him.  In  this  state  of 
things  they  drew  out  the  somewhat  antiquated  weapon 
of  excommunication.  In  this  period  of  discouragement, 
the  project  of  transferring  the  Inquisition  to  Bogota  was 
discussed,  but  without  any  practical  result.  In  the  mean- 
time, Governor  Murga’s  reports  to  the  Council  of  the 
Indies  moved  that  body  to  cite  the  inquisitor  Velez  y 
Argos  to  appear  in  Madrid.  Before  the  council  he  used 
whatever  influence  he  could  command  to  set  aside  the 
effect  of  Murga’s  reports.  In  favour  of  the  inquisitor 
was  the  fear  entertained  by  the  government  that  an  un- 
qualified endorsement  of  Murga’s  views  would  tend  to 
intimidate  the  inquisitors  everywhere,  and  deprive  them 
of  the  independence  required  for  a proper  performance 
of  their  functions  ; while  at  the  same  time  it  would  em- 
bolden the  governors  to  assert  their  power  and  proceed 
to  new  controversies. 

The  strained  relations  which  existed  between  the 
principal  authorities  of  the  State  were  relieved  by  the 
death  of  Governor  Murga.  But  after  this  event,  Velez  y 
Argos  continued  his  defence  ; the  king,  however,  followed 
the  opinion  of  his  council,  and  decided  against  the  return 
of  the  inquisitor  to  Cartagena. 

These  controversies  employed  much  of  the  time  of 
the  inquisitors,  but,  in  the  autos-dc-fe  which  followed, 


343  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

they  returned  to  their  diabolic  work  with  more  than 
their  usual  ferocity  ; and  the  tales  of  torture  which  fill 
the  later  records  make  one  wonder  not  merely  that  human 
beings  should  have  done  these  things,  but  that  they  could 
have  written  down  in  calmness  and  cold  blood  detailed 
descriptions  of  the  horrible  suffering  of  their  victims. 

A large  number  of  the  early  victims  of  the  Inquisition 
in  Cartagena  were  negroes  tried  for  witchcraft.  After 
the  promotion  of  Manozca  the  Portuguese  Jews,  who  had 
acquired  great  importance  in  the  commercial  affairs  of 
Lima,  became  the  objects  of  inquisitorial  solicitude.  In- 
formation obtained  in  Peru  concerning  the  presence  of 
Jews  in  Cartagena  was  transmitted  to  that  city,  causing 
them  to  be  subjected  to  vigorous  persecution.  One  of 
the  first  victims  was  Bias  de  Paz  Pinto,  “ a man  who  was 
beloved  and  esteemed  by  the  whole  city.”  “ At  the 
third  turn,”  when  tortured,  he  confessed  that  he  was  a 
Jew.  In  attempting  to  cure  him  after  this  exercise,  it 
was  found  that  parts  of  his  body  were  injured  to  such  an 
extent  that  mortification  set  in  ; some  of  his  toes  had  to 
be  cut  off ; and  to  complete  the  wreck,  fever,  lockjaw, 
and  paralysis  followed.  In  this  state  he  was  held,  his 
judges  reserving  him  for  a second  torture,  in  case  he 
should  live.  But  at  this  point  he  disappointed  them, 
for  eight  days  after  his  torture  he  died,  February  19, 
1637,  and  his  property  was  confiscated.  Some  of  the 
others  had  more  physical  endurance,  for  we  read  that 
Luis  Fernandez  Suarez  suffered  five  turns  of  the  man- 
cuerda.1 

By  confiscating  the  property  of  persons  tried  and  con- 
demned, and  by  other  means,  the  Inquisition,  in  1659, 
had  acquired  over  expenses  a balance  of  430,414  pesos. 
Hereafter,  for  decade  after  decade,  it  pursued  its  mono- 
tonous course  of  condemnations  and  confiscations  ; by 
its  system  of  spying  leading  men  to  distrust  their  fellows 
in  all  the  relations  of  life  ; by  its  outrageous  punishments 

1 Medina,  La  Inquisicidn  en  Cartagena,  225. 


INQUISITION  IN  CARTAGENA  349 

leaving  behind  it  a trail  of  misery ; and  by  its  persecu- 
tion of  intellectual  freedom  manifesting  itself  as  the  most 
diabolical  of  all  human  institutions.1 

1 For  a list  of  the  autos-de-fi,  and  of  the  victims  during  the  later 
history  of  the  Inquisition  in  Cartagena,  see  Medina,  La  Inquistcidn  en 
Cartagena,  267  and  ff. ; also  Manifesto  historico  de  los  Procedimientos 
del  Tribunal  del  Santo  Officio  de  Cartagena,  & c.,  Cadiz,  1681. 


CHAPTER  XX 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS  AND  THE  ARAUCANI AN 

WAR 

I.  The  question  of  the  governorship  of  Chile.  II.  The  Araucanian  war. 
III.  Garcia  Hurtado  de  Mendosa  as  governor  and  his  treatment 
of  Aguirre  and  Villagra.  IV.  Villagra  governor  of  Chile.  V. 
Successes  of  the  Indians. 


I 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Valdivia  in  1554,  the  cabildo  of 
Concepcion  opened  his  political  testament,  and  it  was 
found  that  he  had  named  to  succeed  him,  in  the  first  place, 
Jeronimo  de  Alderete  ; in  the  second  place,  Francisco  de 
Aguirre  ; and  in  the  third  place,  Francisco  de  Villagra. 
Alderete  had  been  sent  to  Spain  to  obtain  for  Valdivia 
perpetual  control  of  the  colony,  with  the  title  of  Marquis 
of  Arauco.  While  there  he  was  commissioned  by  the 
king  to  be  the  successor  of  Valdivia.  Aguirre  was  in 
Tucuman,  where  he  had  been  at  the  head  of  affairs  for 
about  a year  and  a half,  when  messengers  from  Chile 
brought  to  him  the  news  of  the  death  of  Valdivia.  They 
brought  also  letters  from  Aguirre’s  friends  in  Chile,  sug- 
gesting that  he  should  assume  the  office  made  vacant  by 
the  death  of  Valdivia.  But  the  presence  of  Villagra  in 
Chile  gave  him  an  advantage  in  the  contest  for  the  office 
of  governor.  He  was,  moreover,  supported  by  the  cabildo 
of  Concepcion.  The  cabildo  of  Santiago,  however, 
favoured  Rodrigo  de  Ouiroga,  but  later  affirmed  that  it 
would  exercise  the  supreme  authority  until  the  arrival 
of  instructions  from  the  audiencia  of  Peru.  W’hen  Aguirre 
reached  Serena,  in  April  1554,  he  found  the  affairs  of 

35° 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS 


35i 


Chile  in  great  confusion.  The  towns  held  antagonistic 
views  respecting  the  headship  of  the  government,  and 
the  Araucanians,  given  new  confidence  by  their  victory, 
had  become  more  restless  and  more  determined  in  their 
hostility.  But  in  spite  of  the  action  of  the  cabildos  of 
Concepcion  and  Santiago,  Aguirre  was  disposed  to  insist 
on  his  right  to  the  succession,  and  consequently  sent  a 
communication  to  the  cabildo  of  Santiago,  requesting 
that  body  to  recognise  him  as  governor  of  Chile.  The 
cabildo,  however,  stood  by  its  determination  to  receive 
neither  Aguirre  nor  any  other  person,  except  under  orders 
from  the  king.  In  the  meantime  Aguirre  and  Villagra 
maintained  armed  forces,  in  order  that  each  might  avoid 
the  danger  of  being  surprised  by  the  other.  It  was  then 
proposed  that  the  contentions  of  the  two  leaders  should 
be  submitted  to  arbitration,  a proposition  which  Villagra 
was  willing  to  accept,  but  which  was  rejected  by  Aguirre 
on  the  ground  that  his  right  was  complete.  The  practical 
decision  in  the  case  was  that  the  cabildo  should  carry  on 
the  government  temporarily,  and  that  if  the  audiencia  of 
Lima  should  not  appoint  a person  within  a period  of  seven 
months  Villagra  should  be  recognised  as  governor  of 
Chile.  Aguirre,  however,  was  not  disposed  to  give  up 
his  pretensions,  and  made  a peremptory  demand  that  the 
cabildo  should  recognise  him  as  the  governor.  Knowing 
the  energy  and  ability  of  Aguirre  as  a leader,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Santiago  were  seriously  alarmed  by  his  ultimatum, 
and  immediately  began  preparations  for  resistance. 
During  this  agitation  a messenger  arrived  from  Lima, 
announcing  that  the  revolutionist  Giron  had  been  de- 
feated and  had  fled  toward  the  south,  and  requesting 
Aguirre  to  prevent  him  from  entering  Tucuman  or  Chile. 
Aguirre  naturally  regarded  this  as  a compliment,  and 
fancied  that  a way  would  be  immediately  opened  to  the 
attainment  of  the  object  of  his  ambition.  While  the 
inhabitants  of  Chile  were  thus  divided  into  antagonistic 
factions,  and  the  colony  was  without  a generally  recog- 


352  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

nised  head,  the  government  of  Peru  was  in  such  a state 
as  to  render  it  incapable  of  furnishing  any  effective 
assistance.  The  vacancy  in  the  post  of  viceroy  left 
public  matters  in  charge  of  the  audiencia,  and  this  body 
hesitated  to  make  a positive  decision  concerning  the 
government  of  Chile.  Francisco  de  Riberos  was  in  Lima 
urging  the  claims  of  Villagra  ; Diego  Sanchez  Moreles 
was  the  representative  and  advocate  of  Aguirre  : but 
neither  party  seemed  to  make  any  progress  in  advocating 
the  interests  of  its  chief.  Finally,  however,  in  order  to 
avert  the  impending  civil  war  in  Chile,  the  audiencia 
issued  a decree  that  annulled  the  part  of  Valdivia’s  will 
which  referred  to  his  successor,  and  ordered  that  both 
Aguirre  and  Villagra  should  disband  their  troops,  and 
that  the  state  of  affairs  which  prevailed  at  the  time  of 
the  death  of  Valdivia  should  be  maintained.  A final 
provision  of  this  decree  was  that  the  alcaldes  of  the  cities 
should  carry  on  the  government  and  the  administration 
of  justice  in  their  respective  jurisdictions  until  the  king 
should  appoint  a new  governor.  This  decision  satisfied 
nobody. 


II 

In  the  meantime,  the  war  with  the  Araucanians 
absorbed  the  attentions  of  the  settlers  in  the  south.  In 
February  1554,  Villagra,  having  gathered  the  available 
forces,  led  them  from  Concepcion  across  the  Biobio  into 
the  mountainous  country  of  Mariguenu,  where  they  met 
the  enemy  and  suffered  a complete  defeat.  Through  the 
reverses  suffered  by  Valdivia  and  Villagra  the  Araucanian 
war  was  fairly  begun,  and  the  events  connected  with  it 
fill  a large  part  of  Chilean  history  during  the  next  hundred 
years.  It  had  begun  in  a manner  to  afford  the  Spaniards 
somewhat  gloomy  forebodings  as  to  its  future  progress. 
After  the  defeat  of  Villagra,  the  town  of  Concepcion  was 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS 


353 


abandoned,  and  was  soon  after  sacked  by  the  forces  of 
Lautaro.  When  the  Indians  had  seized  whatever  seemed 
to  them  useful,  or  whatever  attracted  their  curiosity, 
they  set  fire  to  the  houses,  and  thus  swept  away  every- 
thing from  the  site  of  the  town  but  a few  charred  ruins. 
In  his  second  campaign,  Villagra  was  more  successful, 
and  was  able  to  avert  from  Valdivia  and  Imperial  the 
fate  that  had  overwhelmed  Concepcion.  The  Indians  had 
established  their  characters  as  warriors  in  the  minds  of 
the  invaders,  but  they  had  done  it  at  an  enormous  cost. 
Their  fields  had  been  abandoned  during  the  time  for 
planting  and  harvesting,  or  had  been  ruined  during  the 
movements  of  the  war,  and  there  followed  the  inevitable 
consequences,  famine  with  its  destructive  accompaniment 
of  disease.  Want  and  pestilence  appear  to  have  broken 
the  power  of  the  Indians,  for,  in  a later  campaign,  Villagra 
encountered  little  or  no  resistance. 

He  now  put  forth  a new  demand  to  be  recognised  by 
the  cabildo  of  Santiago  as  governor  of  Chile  ; but  that 
body  adhered  to  its  purpose  to  await  the  decision  of  a 
superior  authority.  Finally,  the  audiencia  of  Lima,  the 
office  of  viceroy  being  vacant,  appointed  Villagra  corre- 
gidor  and  justicia  mayor  of  the  territory  of  Chile.  This 
appointment  gave  Villagra  temporary  control  of  the 
public  affairs  of  the  colony.  Aguirre  was  not  able  to 
bear  with  equanimity  this  triumph  of  his  rival.  He 
refused  to  recognise  Villagra’s  authority,  and  carried  the 
cabildo  of  Serena  with  him  into  rebellion.  The  attitude 
assumed  by  Aguirre  led  Villagra  to  move  against  Serena 
with  an  armed  force.  The  town  was  taken  without  re- 
sistance, but  Aguirre  retired  out  of  reach  toward  the 
north,  and  continued  his  refusal  to  submit  to  his  former 
rival.  At  this  stage  of  the  contest  information  was  re- 
ceived that  Alderete  had  died  at  Panama,  and  that  the 
viceroy,  on  January  29,  1557,  had  appointed  his  son, 
Garcia  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  to  be  the  governor  of  Chile. 

VOL.  1,  Z 


354  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

By  the  appointment  of  this  beardless  youth,  the  hopes 
and  ambitions  of  the  two  leaders  were  defeated.1 


Ill 

The  persistent  hostility  of  the  Araucanians  made  it 
necessary  for  the  governor  to  be  supported  by  a large 
military  force.  Throughout  the  viceroy’s  dominions  there 
were  not  wanting  adventurers  whose  expectations  had 
not  been  realised.  The  call  for  soldiers  issued  by  the 
viceroy  offered  them  at  least  occupation  and  a new  field 
for  exploits.  Led  by  various  motives,  they  presented 
themselves  for  service  in  sufficient  numbers  to  constitute 
an  important  army.  Ten  ships  under  Don  Garcia  in 
person  took  the  infantry  to  the  coast  of  Chile,  while  the 
cavalry  went  by  land  under  the  quartermaster-general, 
Garcia  Ramon.  The  infantry  landed  near  Concepcion 
in  April  1557,  but  the  cavalry  did  not  arrive  till  some 
months  later.  The  Araucanians  were  not  terrified  by 
the  great  show  of  force  made  by  the  Spaniards,  and  deter- 
mined to  adhere  to  their  ancient  policy  of  war.  The 
barbarous  practices  of  the  governor  in  either  mutilating 
or  putting  to  death  all  persons  taken  in  war,  had  not  the 
effect  to  subdue  the  enemy,  but  rather  to  inflame  them 
with  a desire  for  revenge.  Even  the  women  were  moved 

1 The  governors  of  Chile  between  the  appointment  of  Garcia 
Hurtado  de  Mendoza  and  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  are  named 
in  the  following  list : 


Garcia  Hurtado  de  Mendoza 

. 1556-1561 

Francisco  de  Villagra  . 

. 1561-1563 

Pedro  de  Villagra  ( interim ) 

■ 1563-1565 

Rodrigo  de  Quiroga  ( interim ) 

. 1565-1567 

The  audiencia  .... 

. 1567-1568 

Bravo  de  Saravia 

. 1568-1575 

Rodrigo  de  Quiroga 

• 1575-1580 

Ruiz  de  Gamboa  (interim)  . 

. 1580-1583 

Alonso  de  Sotomayor 

. 1583-1592 

Onez  de  Loyola 

. 1592-1598 

Pedro  de  Viscarra  (interim) 

1599 

Francisco  de  Quinones  (interim)  . 

, . . 1599-1600 

VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS 


355 


by  this  spirit,  and  fought  in  the  ranks  with  the  men.  But 
all  their  bravery  did  not  permanently  avail  against  the 
more  effective  arms  of  the  Spaniards. 

The  conquest  of  Cuyo  which  had  been  begun  by 
Francisco  de  Aguirre  was  later  completed  by  Pedro 
Castillo,  acting  under  the  orders  of  Governor  Mendoza. 
Castillo  founded  two  cities  east  of  the  Andes,  which 
he  called  San  Juan  and  Mendoza.  The  latter  was  named 
in  honour  of  the  family  of  Governor  Mendoza. 

The  conduct  of  Hurtado  de  Mendoza  toward  Aguirre 
was  marked  with  deceit  and  hypocrisy.  Soon  after  the 
arrived  of  the  new  governor  at  the  port  of  Coquimbo, 
Aguirre  went  on  board  Mendoza’s  ship,  and  was  received 
with  military  music  and  a salute  from  the  artillery  ; and 
Mendoza  made  to  him  this  hypocritical  announcement: 
“ What  greatly  relieved  the  pain  which  my  father,  the 
viceroy,  suffered  in  parting  from  me  in  order  to  send  me 
on  this  expedition,  was  the  knowledge  that  I would  find 
in  this  country  a person  of  experience  and  mature  judg- 
ment from  whom  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  service  of 
the  king  I should  be  able  to  receive  counsel  and  advice.” 
But  in  spite  of  the  apparently  friendly  attitude  of  Men- 
doza, it  was  clear  that  he  regarded  the  presence  of  Aguirre 
in  Chile  as  a hindrance  to  the  execution  of  his  plans. 
Aguirre  was,  therefore,  invited  by  the  governor  to  join  a 
hunting  party  near  the  coast,  and  was  there  arrested  and 
taken  to  a ship  lying  at  anchor  in  the  port  of  Coquimbo. 
This  action  was  entirely  unexpected  by  Aguirre,  and  he 
was  given  no  time  or  opportunity  to  make  any  arrange- 
ments with  respect  to  his  extensive  business  affairs.  A 
little  later  Villagra  was  also  arrested,  taken  to  Valparaiso, 
conducted  by  sea  to  Coquimbo,  and  there  placed  on  the 
ship  that  was  to  take  both  these  old  conquistadores  to 
Lima.  Aguirre  and  Villagra  were  granted  a certain 
degree  of  liberty,  but  they  were  forbidden  to  return  to 
Chile.  The  treatment  which  they  had  received  at  the 
hands  of  the  governor  of  Chile,  and  that  which  they  now 


356  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

received  at  the  hands  of  the  viceroy,  was  such  as  to  cause 
these  officials  to  be  condemned  by  the  whole  population 
of  Peru.  And  Philip  II  was  moved  by  it  to  inflict  a 
severe  punishment  upon  the  viceroy  and  his  son.  But 
Aguirre,  although  compelled  to  bear  the  burden  and 
humiliation  of  a long  trial,  had  the  satisfaction  of  gather- 
ing about  him  his  wife,  his  two  daughters,  and  his  younger 
son,  who  had  recently  arrived  from  Spain  after  a separa- 
tion of  twenty-three  years. 

After  the  close  of  the  fruitless  trial,  the  viceroy  found 
pretexts  for  retaining  Aguirre  in  Lima.  The  real  reason 
for  his  detention  was  the  fear  that  his  presence  in  Chile 
would  hinder  the  execution  of  the  governor’s  plans.  But 
finally,  in  the  middle  of  1559,  he  was  permitted  to  return 
to  Serena  with  his  family.  He  had  been  taken  away 
without  having  opportunity  to  put  his  affairs  in  order, 
and  he  now  returned  to  find  that  during  the  two  years  of 
his  absence  his  rights  had  been  invaded,  much  of  his  pro- 
perty had  fallen  into  strange  hands,  and  it  would  require 
some  time  to  re-establish  his  control.  Beyond  caring  for 
his  estate,  Aguirre’s  only  ambition  at  this  time  was  to  be 
reinstated  as  governor  of  Tucuman.  In  the  meantime, 
Philip  II  had  appointed  the  Count  of  Nieva  viceroy  in 
place  of  the  Marquis  of  Canete  ; and  Villagra,  through 
the  influence  of  his  friends  and  advocates  in  Spain,  ob- 
tained for  himself  the  post  of  Chile.  The  energetic  action 
of  Philip  II.  in  dismissing  Hurtado  de  Mendoza  naturally 
brought  to  Aguirre  a certain  measure  of  satisfaction  ; but 
this  was  counterbalanced  by  the  appointment  of  his 
ancient  rival.  Although  without  office,  he  continued  to 
live  in  northern  Chile  like  a feudal  baron.  He  had  re- 
gained possession  of  his  fortress-like  house  and  his  ex- 
tensive lands,  and  the  manorial  independence  which  he 
enjoyed  made  him  virtually  the  governor  of  this  northern 
region.  “ All  his  pretensions,”  Juan  de  Herrera  wrote  to 
the  king,  “ indicate  a desire  to  govern  and  not  to  obey  ” ; 
and  his  attitude  towards  the  alcaldes  showed  his  deter- 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS 


357 


mination  to  make  his  will  recognised  as  the  dominant 
force  in  the  communities  of  that  region.  The  sons  of 
Aguirre  were  not  disposed  to  be  more  subservient  than 
their  father. 

During  the  period  of  his  administration,  Mendoza’s 
attention  was  almost  exclusively  directed  to  his  cam- 
paigns against  the  Araucanians  ; and,  in  the  beginning 
of  1560,  he  announced  that  the  conquest  of  Chile  was 
complete,  and  the  pacification  of  the  natives  accom- 
plished. This  was  generally  believed  in  Chile,  and  it 
was  the  substance  of  the  governor’s  report  to  the  king. 
But  the  king  was  not  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  either 
the  viceroy  or  the  governor.  He  had  regarded  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  governor  by  his  father  as  an  unworthy 
act  of  favouritism,  especially  without  justification,  since 
it  ignored  both  Aguirre  and  Villagra,  whose  ability  and 
fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the  colony  had  been  made 
manifest  by  their  long  service.  And  while  Mendoza  was 
proclaiming  his  achievements  with  great  self-satisfaction, 
the  king  had  already  given  expression  to  his  views  by 
recalling  both  the  viceroy  and  the  governor.1 

But  the  Araucanian  war  was  not  ended,  and  the  spirit 
of  the  unsubdued  natives  finds  expression  in  a speech 
which  a chief,  or  an  Indian  ambassador,  is  said  to  have 
made  to  the  governor  of  Chile  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  governor  had  endeavoured  to 
impress  the  Indian  with  an  idea  of  the  great  power  of  the 
King  of  Spain,  and  to  make  it  evident  that  the  Araucanians 
should  submit  and  acknowledge  the  Spaniards  as  their 
masters. 

“ We  are  not  ignorant,”  the  ambassador  replied,  “ of 
the  power  of  your  prince,  which  extends  from  the  east  to 
the  west.  But  we  are  not  to  be  despised,  for  although 
we  are  but  a small  people,  we  have  nevertheless  hitherto 
resisted  his  immense  power.  Your  ideas  respecting  peace 

1 On  the  king’s  letter  of  recall  addressed  to  the  governor  of  Chile, 
see  Barros  Arana,  Historia  jcneral  de  Chile,  ii.  214. 


358  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

are  very  different  from  ours.  By  peace  we  understand 
an  entire  cessation  of  hostilities,  which  is  to  be  followed  by 
a complete  renunciation  on  your  part  of  any  pretended 
right  of  control  over  us,  and  the  restoration  of  all  those 
lands  which  you  have  occupied  in  our  territories.  You, 
on  the  contrary,  under  that  name,  seek  to  subject  us,  to 
which  we  will  never  consent  while  we  have  a drop  of 
blood  left  in  our  veins.”  1 

This  speech  may  have  no  more  authenticity  than 
many  other  speeches  reported  by  historians  ; but  that  it 
represents  the  spirit  of  the  Araucanians  is  sufficiently 
indicated  by  the  events  of  their  long  struggle  with  the 
Spaniards. 

The  following  speech,  which  might  have  been  made 
by  an  Araucanian  prisoner  who  had  witnessed  the  out- 
rages committed  by  the  Spaniards,  gives  expression  to 
the  spirit  of  his  people  and  to  a prophetic  vision  that,  in 
some  measure  at  least,  has  been  realised  : 

“ I am  your  captive.  You  have  killed  our  men  and 
carried  away  our  women  and  children.  Our  houses  are 
in  ruins,  and  our  little  fields  are  left  desolate.  The  sum- 
mer has  come  many  times  since  you  began  to  murder  my 
people.  One  after  one  our  villages  have  been  burned, 
and  all  that  we  had  has  been  taken  from  us.  We  have 
become  strangers  in  the  valleys  where  sometime  the  blue 
smoke  of  our  hearth-fires  ascended  through  the  green 
branches  of  our  forests.  You  tell  us  you  came  to  make 
us  know  your  god,  but  we  reply  we  will  not  know  him. 
He  is  a weak  and  unjust  god,  or  long  ago  he  would  have 
stretched  forth  his  hand  to  smite  you  for  your  cruel 
treatment  of  those  who  lived  before  us.  You  fancy, 
because  your  battle-axes  have  fallen  heavily  upon  us, 
and  your  spears  have  pierced  us,  that  we  are  subdued. 
The  Araucanian  is  never  subdued.  He  was  born  free. 
You  may  put  chains  on  his  body,  but  you  cannot  put 
chains  on  his  spirit.  You  may  kill  our  warriors  and  make 

1 Molina,  ii.  215. 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS 


359 


our  country  a desert  ; but  you  will  marry  our  women, 
and  your  children  will  have  the  strong  blood  of  the 
Araucanian.  You  may  whiten  their  faces ; you  may 
teach  them  to  go  to  your  temples,  and  pray  to  your  god  ; 
but  they  will  not  be  like  you.  Their  blood  will  be  our 
blood,  and  their  spirit  will  be  our  spirit.  The  Araucanian 
has  always  triumphed,  and  he  will  still  triumph.  Your 
children’s  children  will  rule  the  land,  but  they  will  be  our 
children.  Their  mothers  will  be  our  women,  from  whose 
breasts  they  will  have  drawn  the  hatred  you  have  aroused 
in  us.  The  generations  who  come  after  you  will  hate  the 
stranger  as  we  have  hated  you.  They  will  be  like  us. 
You  may  tear  us  in  pieces  with  your  horses  ; you  may 
burn  us  with  hot  irons  ; you  may  pull  out  our  tongues 
by  the  roots  ; but  the  Araucanian  will  not  be  conquered. 
Your  children  will  be  his  children,  and  in  them  his  spirit 
will  survive  unsubdued  to  the  latest  days.” 

IV 

Villagra,  after  he  had  been  appointed  governor,  arrived 
in  Chile,  June  5,  1561.  His  predecessor,  Mendoza,  had  left 
the  colony  three  months  earlier.  The  vessel  that  brought 
Villagra  from  Callao  to  Serena  introduced  a number  of 
cases  of  smallpox  into  the  country,  and  the  disease  spread 
with  marvellous  rapidity,  and  was  especially  fatal  among 
the  Indians,  who  thought  the  Spaniards  were  employing 
it  as  an  additional  means  for  destroying  the  natives,  or 
another  agency  in  warfare  ; for  in  spite  of  Mendoza’s 
announcements  about  the  pacification  of  the  Indians,  all 
the  southern  settlements  were  threatened  by  their  hostile 
neighbours.  Frequent  campaigns  were  thought  to  be 
necessary  as  the  only  means  for  defending  the  conquests 
already  made,  and  for  preventing  the  massacre  of  the  settlers 
and  the  destruction  of  their  property.  But  Villagra’s 
physical  infirmities  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  be  an 
effective  leader  in  these  campaigns.  He  was  helpless, 


36o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

moreover,  in  the  presence  of  the  internal  disorders  that 
afflicted  the  colony. 

The  end  of  Villagra  had  doubtless  been  expected  by 
the  viceroy  of  Peru  ; for  that  officer  had  authorised  him 
to  designate  a person  who,  in  case  of  his  death,  might 
perform  the  duties  of  a governor  until  they  should  be 
assumed  by  an  appointee  of  the  king.  In  the  exercise 
of  this  power  he  designated  his  cousin,  Pedro  de  Villagra. 
He  died  June  22,  1563. 

Captain  Pedro  de  Villagra,  who  became  interim 
governor  in  1563,  was  not  a stranger  in  Chile.  He  had 
been  associated  with  Valdivia  in  the  period  of  the  con- 
quest, and  he  had  acquired  distinction  by  his  defence  of 
Imperial  during  the  first  uprising  of  the  Indians.  The 
state  of  affairs  had  not  greatly  changed  : the  Indians 
were  still  in  revolt ; the  colony  was  kept  poor  by  the 
continuance  of  the  war ; and  the  hope  of  finding  an 
abundance  of  gold  had  vanished.  For  lack  of  forces, 
Pedro  de  Villagra  found  it  advisable  to  abandon  the  fort 
of  Aruaco  ; and  the  Indians,  made  bold  and  aggressive 
by  the  advantage  already  gained,  pressed  forward  to 
new  victories.  The  inhabitants  of  Santiago,  which  was 
still  a miserable  village  embracing  not  more  than  three 
hundred  Spaniards,  were  convinced  of  the  impending 
danger  by  reports  brought  by  soldiers  fleeing  from  defeats 
they  had  suffered  in  the  south  ; and  they  made  use  of 
all  available  resources  to  send  assistance  to  those  who 
were  doing  what  they  were  able  to  stem  the  northward 
movement  of  the  barbarians.1 


V 

In  spite  of  the  increase  of  the  Spanish  forces,  effected 
by  the  addition  of  soldiers  sent  from  Peru,  during  the 
administration  of  Pedro  Villagra,  the  new  ititerim  governor, 

1 Memorial  cerca  del  Gobierno  y Guerra  del  Reyno  de  Chile,  del 
Licenciado  Juan  de  Herrera,  Doc.  inid..  xx.  169. 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS  361 

Pedro  de  Quiroga  (1565-1567),  found  it  advisable  to  make 
extensive  preparations  for  his  proposed  campaign.  These 
were  made  in  part  at  the  expense  of  the  royal  treasury 
and  in  part  by  contributions  from  his  private  funds. 
But  Quiroga,  after  he  had  gained  certain  advantages 
over  the  enemy,  overestimated,  like  some  of  his  prede- 
cessors, the  effects  of  his  military  successes,  and  under- 
estimated the  reserve  force  of  the  Araucanians.  Although 
certain  outposts  that  had  been  destroyed  were  re-estab- 
lished, the  cause  of  peace  was  not  greatly  advanced. 

During  this  period  some  additional  knowledge  of  the 
southern  country  was  obtained  through  the  exploration 
of  Chiloe  by  General  Ruiz  de  Gamboa.  But  the  most 
important  change  in  the  circumstances  of  the  colony  at 
this  time  was  the  establishment  of  a royal  audiencia  for 
Chile,  the  decree  creating  it  being  dated  August  27,  1565. 
The  Tribunal  was  composed  of  four  members,  three  sent 
from  Spain,  and  one,  Melchor  Bravo  de  Saravia,  taken  from 
the  audiencia  of  Lima.  Of  the  members  sent  from  Spain, 
one  died  in  Panama,  and  the  other  two  arrived  at  Serena 
in  April  1567.  About  four  months  later  the  audiencia 
was  installed  in  Concepcion,  as  the  supreme  court  of  the 
colony,  and  at  the  same  time,  in  accordance  with  the  royal 
decree,  it  became  the  administrative  head  of  the  govern- 
ment. In  this  latter  capacity  it  undertook  to  reorganise 
the  military  forces,  but  its  work  was  hindered  by  the 
poverty  of  the  country,  and  its  attempts  to  establish 
peaceful  relations  with  the  Indians  were  unsuccessful. 
In  1568,  under  a commission  issued  by  the  king,  Sep- 
tember 23,  1567,  Melchor  Bravo  de  Saravia  assumed  the 
office  and  functions  of  governor  of  Chile  (1568-1575). 
The  experience  of  his  predecessors  was  an  inefficient 
teacher  for  Bravo  de  Saravia.  He  assumed  his  duties  as 
governor  with  the  baseless  expectation  of  ending  the 
Araucanian  war  in  a very  short  time  by  the  uncompro- 
mising exercise  of  force.  Without  comprehending  the 
real  situation  he  entered  at  once  upon  a campaign  ; and 


362  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

at  Mareguano,  or  Catirai,  he  suffered  a defeat  quite  as 
disastrous  as  any  that  had  occurred  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  hostilities.  The  members  of  the  colony 
appreciated  more  fully  than  the  governors  the  burdens 
of  the  war,  and  the  obstacles  which  it  put  in  the  way  of 
their  individual  and  social  welfare.  The  encomenderos 
sought  to  buy  immunity  from  service.  They  offered  to 
give  one-eighth  of  the  gold  taken  from  their  mines,  on 
condition  that  they  and  their  sons  would  be  relieved  from 
the  obligation  of  becoming  soldiers.  After  the  defeat  of 
Mareguano,  the  troops  were  demoralised,  and  the  hopes 
with  which  the  governor  had  entered  upon  his  duties  had 
vanished. 

These  disastrous  wars  gave  Chile  a bad  reputation, 
and  caused  it  to  be  known  in  Peru  as  “ the  grave  of 
Spaniards.”  So  hopeless  had  the  state  of  affairs  become 
that  Bravo  de  Saravia  had  more  than  once  requested 
to  be  relieved  of  the  office  in  which  he  had  encountered 
only  misfortune.  But  the  governor  was  not  the  only  one 
who  had  been  discovered  willing  to  withdraw  from  the 
country.  The  mestizo,  Juan  Fernandez,  a silversmith, 
fancied  he  might  be  more  fortunate  on  the  other  side 
of  the  cordillera,  and  sought  to  persuade  others  to  accom- 
pany him.  For  this  offence  he  was  hanged.  No  one 
who  was  able  to  bear  arms  was  permitted  to  leave  the 
country. 

Ouiroga,  as  governor  of  Chile  (1575-1580),  encoun- 
tered a varity  of  embarrassments.  The  perennial  con- 
flict with  the  Araucanians  continued  to  absorb  the  atten- 
tion of  the  governor  and  the  revenues  of  the  colony. 
Indians  who  had  hitherto  been  friendly  were  driven  to 
revolt  by  the  outrageous  treatment  they  had  received. 
The  Church  felt  itself  sufficiently  powerful  to  have  a policy 
of  its  own  ; and  its  pretensions  to  independence  found 
expression  in  the  assertion  of  authority,  by  the  bishop 
of  Imperial,  to  appoint  a certain  class  of  priests  without 
the  intervention  of  the  civil  power,  a pretension  which 


VALDIVIA’S  SUCCESSORS  363 

violated  the  practice  established  throughout  the  Spanish 
king’s  dominions.  And  finally,  the  comet  of  15 77  ap- 
peared as  a messenger  portending  evil,  which  seemed  to 
them  to  be  realised  in  the  coming  of  Drake  to  sail  the 
Pacific,  and  plunder  the  towns  of  the  faithful. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE 

I.  The  trial  of  Alonso  de  Escobar.  II.  Calderon  the  commissary  for 
Chile.  III.  Auto-de-fes  and  foreign  heretics.  IV.  Increase  in 
the  number  of  Jews.  V.  Controversies  provoked  by  the  Inquisi- 
tion. 


I 

The  creation  of  the  audiencia  gave  to  the  government  of 
Chile  a degree  of  practical  independence,  which  it  had  not 
previously  enjoyed  ; but,  in  the  management  of  internal 
affairs,  the  secular  authorities  often  found  themselves  in 
this  period  opposed  by  the  bishops  representing  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  Church.  Chile  was,  moreover,  subject  to 
intervention  by  a power  independent  of  both  the  bishop 
and  the  secular  government.  This  was  exercised  by  the 
officers  of  the  Inquisition  resident  in  the  country.  The 
inquisitorial  functions  were  performed  by  bishops  or 
other  officers,  in  Chile  as  well  as  elsewhere  in  South 
America,  before  the  establishment  of  the  Tribunal  in 
Lima.  Whether  exercised  by  the  bishop  or  commis- 
saries of  the  Holy  Office,  the  power  of  the  inquisitors 
was  a disturbing  factor  in  the  affairs  of  this  isolated  pro- 
vince, and  stood  as  an  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  social 
enlightenment  and  the  development  of  individual  intel- 
ligence. In  its  zeal  to  cause  all  men  to  entertain  a 
common  belief,  it  was  especially  watchful  to  detect  any 
signs  of  departure  from  the  standard,  or  to  discover  the 
beginnings  of  heresy.1 

Inquisitors  began  their  work  in  Chile  soon  after  the 
foundation  of  the  colony.  As  early  as  1562,  eight  years 

1 Barros  Arana,  Historia  jeneral  dc  Chile,  iv.  237. 

364 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  365 

before  the  organisation  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Lima,  a 
person  named  Alonso  de  Escobar  was  tried  for  heresy. 
He  had  taken  part  in  certain  military  expeditions,  and 
was  living  in  Santiago.  The  alleged  heretical  statement 
was  made  in  the  public  plaza,  and  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  archdeacon,  Francisco  de  Paredes,  the  visitador 
and  vicar-general  of  Chile,  and  the  Dominican  friar,  Gil 
Gonzalez  de  San  Nicholas.  Escobar  was  reported  to  have 
said  that  when  Friar  Gil  Gonzalez  preached  “ on  the  text 
of  the  gospel,  he  listened  to  him  willingly,  and  when  he 
entered  upon  the  ethics  of  the  gospel,  he  stopped  up  his 
ears.”  The  next  day  Paredes  caused  a charge  to  be  drawn 
up  affirming  that  the  language  of  Escobar  was  scandalous, 
opposed  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  expressed  one  of  the 
opinions  of  Martin  Luther. 

Beginning  on  the  nth  of  August,  the  witnesses  were 
examined,  and  on  the  seventeenth,  Diego  de  Frias,  having 
been  appointed  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  case,  charged 
that  Escobar  had  little  fear  of  God  ; that  his  soul  was 
in  great  danger ; that  he  made  heretical  statements 
publicly  before  all  the  people,  through  which  a bad 
example  was  set  to  the  faithful  and  to  the  newly  con- 
verted natives  ; that  he  had  said  he  heard  willingly  the 
sermons  on  the  texts  of  the  gospel,  but  that  he  stopped 
his  ears  and  did  not  wish  to  hear  what  was  said  on  the 
ethics,  “ which  is  the  substance  of  what  the  faithful 
Christians  have  to  hold  and  believe  for  the  safety  of  their 
souls.”  The  attorney  further  affirmed  that  in  this  matter 
the  said  Alonso  de  Escobar  fell  into  one  of  the  errors  of 
Martin  Luther,  and,  as  a Lutheran,  ought  to  be  punished 
with  the  heaviest  and  most  severe  punishments  estab- 
lished by  law,  and  his  property  confiscated.  He,  more- 
over, urged  the  court  and  his  majesty,  the  King  of  Spain, 
to  impose  these  punishments  upon  the  accused,  and  to 
subject  him  to  severe  imprisonment,  in  order  that  there 
might  be  executed  upon  his  person  and  his  property  the 
sentence  to  be  pronounced  against  him,  Escobar  asked 


366  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

that  a lawyer  might  be  appointed  to  defend  him,  and  the 
archdeacon,  sitting  as  judge  for  the  bishop,  granted  his 
request,  and  appointed  Juan  de  Escobedo. 

Escobedo,  replying  to  the  accusation,  maintained  that 
Escobar  was  a Christian  descended  from  Christian  an- 
cestors ; that  he  held  to  the  faith  of  the  Holy  Mother 
Church  of  Rome  ; that  his  ancestors  had  never  been 
punished  by  the  Inquisition  ; and  that  the  words  of  which 
he  was  accused  had  been  uttered  simply  and  not  in  malice. 
After  this  the  contestants  went  on  very  much  as  the 
parties  proceed  in  a profane  suit  at  law,  but  with  appar- 
ently a little  less  respect  for  real  evidence.  On  the 
29th  of  August  the  judge  rendered  his  decision.  In  this 
decision  he  held  that  the  prosecuting  attorney  had  not 
proved  his  charge,  for  the  words  which  Alonso  de  Escobar 
had  uttered  were  not  heretical,  nor  in  opposition  to  what 
the  Holy  Mother  Church  of  Rome  had  determined.  The 
prisoner  was  consequently  released,  with  the  injunction 
not  to  comment  on  the  proceedings  of  this  case.  Failure 
to  follow  this  warning  would  subject  him  to  a prosecution 
with  the  most  rigorous  penalty  the  law  would  permit. 
Although  no  case  was  proved  against  him,  he  was  con- 
demned to  bear  the  costs  of  the  trial ; and  the  judge  in 
pronouncing  the  decision  withheld  temporarily  the  deter- 
mination of  the  amount  of  these  costs.  When  they  were 
finally  fixed,  they  were  as  follows : the  prosecuting 

attorney,  forty-four  dollars ; the  bailiff,  for  executing 
the  order  for  imprisonment,  four  dollars  ; the  judge,  for 
his  signature,  fifteen  dollars  ; and  the  notary,  seventy- 
eight  dollars.  After  all  these  payments  had  been  made, 
the  prosecuting  attorney  requested  that  the  case  might 
be  carried  to  Lima  to  be  reviewed  by  a higher  court  ; and 
the  judge  allowed  this  course  to  be  taken,  and  at  the 
same  time  ordered  Frias,  the  prosecuting  attorney,  to 
appear  there  within  a reasonable  time. 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  367 


II 

The  months  following  the  trial  of  Escobar  were  filled 
with  quarrels,  in  which  nearly  all  the  principal  persons 
of  Chile  were  involved.  The  weapon  of  excommunication 
was  freely  used.  Some  of  the  supposedly  faithful  turned 
out  to  be  heretics,  while  some  who  had  been  accounted 
heretics  appeared  among  the  orthodox.  Civil  and  eccle- 
siastical officials  were  at  loggerheads,  and  confusion 
reigned  throughout  the  colony.  Towards  the  end  of 
July  1563,  several  of  the  more  conspicuous  characters 
who  had  participated  in  the  quarrels  and  trials,  were  on 
their  way  to  Lima  to  present  their  cases  before  the  royal 
audiencia  of  Peru.  The  events  of  these  months  of  internal 
controversies  indicate  that  already  the  clergy  of  Chile, 
armed  with  inquisitorial  powers,  proposed  to  make  their 
presence  felt  by  the  civil  authorities.  This  was  still  more 
evident  in  the  charges  brought  against  Governor  Francisco 
de  Aguirre. 

Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  trial  of  this  period  in 
Chile  was  that  of  the  archdeacon  of  the  cathedral  of 
Santiago,  Francisco  de  Paredes,  already  notorious  for 
having  sat  as  judge  in  the  case  of  Escobar.  The  accusa- 
tion in  this  and  in  practically  all  of  the  cases  tried  under 
the  bishops  was  based  on  utterances  that  were  thought  to 
reveal  a state  of  mind  at  variance  with  that  which  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  insisted  should  be  maintained 
by  the  faithful.  And  when  it  became  known  that  the 
king  had  established  a regularly  organised  Tribunal  of  the 
Inquisition  in  Peru,  a number  of  these  cases  were  appealed 
to  that  court  for  a final  decision. 

On  the  2nd  of  April  1572,  Cerezuela,  the  inquisitor 
of  the  Tribunal  at  Lima,  appointed  Melchor  Calderon 
commissary  for  Chile.1  At  this  time  Calderon  was  the 

1 The  commission  issued  to  Calderon  is  printed  in  Medina,  Historia 
de  la  inquisition  en  Chile,  i.  230. 


368  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

treasurer  of  the  cathedral  of  Santiago.  He  was  superior 
in  learning  to  the  majority  of  his  contemporaries  in  the 
clergy  ; he  was  an  administrator  of  ability  and  a zealous 
preacher  ; but  his  position  was  such  as  to  make  inevitable 
serious  controversies  with  the  bishop,  who  could  take  no 
disciplinary  measure  with  respect  to  him.  The  position 
of  these  two  officials,  independent  of  one  another,  neces- 
sarily involved  them  in  quarrels.  In  the  sacristy  of  the 
cathedral,  Calderon  told  the  subdeacon,  Andres  del  Campo, 
that  the  bishop  had  acted  very  unwisely  in  appointing 
his  nephew  sacristan,  for  the  citizens  of  Santiago  were 
saying  that  he  had  done  it  in  order  to  increase  his  revenues. 
And  when  he  had  said  the  bishop  was  “ no  gentleman,” 
the  antagonism  was  fully  declared.1 * * 4  The  bishop  finally 
appealed  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies  ; and  that  body 
reprimanded  the  commissary  and  ordered  him  to  be 
obedient  to  his  prelate.  For  all  delinquencies  in  opposi- 
tion to  religion,  his  bishop  might  punish  him,  and  he 
was  ordered  to  go  in  person  and  ask  the  bishop’s  pardon. 
The  attempts  made  by  later  legislation  to  prevent  con- 
flicts between  agents  of  the  Inquisition  and  other  officials 
were  crowned  with  only  indifferent  success. 

Ill 

In  spite  of  conspicuous  differences,  the  society  of  Chile 
in  the  seventeenth  century  had  certain  characteristics 
that  distinguish  more  enlightened  communities  : large 
numbers  of  persons  found  satisfaction  in  calling  attention 
to  the  shortcomings  of  their  neighbours.  To  such  persons 
the  organisation  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  appointment 
of  commissaries  presented  an  acceptable  opportunity. 
They  could  tell  with  complete  impunity  all  the  damaging 

1 " El  Obispo  no  es  cabellero  como  yo  lo  soy,  y juro  que  no  es 

cabellero,  y yo  lo  soy  y de  padres  muv  conocidos  ; y juro  4 Dios  que 

me  tengo  de  quejar,  que  no  le  envio  el  Rey  ni  el  Papa  4 trater  mal 

4 sus  prebendados  ” (Calderon  to  Andres  del  Campo).  See  Medina, 
Inquisicidn  cn  Chile,  ii.  29. 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  369 

things  about  their  acquaintances  that  had  come  to  their 
knowledge.  For  their  communications  to  the  commis- 
sary, whether  true  or  false,  they  ran  no  risk  of  prosecution 
for  libel ; and  there  was  a strong  probability  that  their 
tales  would  be  made  the  basis  of  a prosecution  of  their 
victims  before  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition.  In  the 
early  years  of  this  institution,  therefore,  a large  number 
of  accusations  were  brought  to  the  commissary.  Some 
of  them  were  trifling  or  unimportant,  and  not  worthy  of 
the  notice  of  a serious  court,  while  many  others  concerned 
the  character  and  conduct  of  friars  as  exhibited  in  con- 
nection with  their  duties  as  confessors  of  women.1 

Many  of  the  persons  here  accused  escaped  with  punish- 
ments much  lighter  than  those  sometimes  inflicted  by  the 
Tribunal.  Their  good  fortune  in  this  respect  was  due  in 
part  to  the  great  distance  of  their  residence  from  Lima, 
and  to  the  other  fact  that  many  of  their  offences  were  not 
sufficiently  grave  to  warrant  their  transportation  to  that 
city,  particularly  when  the  majority  of  them  had  no  pro- 
perty which  could  be  taken  as  a contribution  towards  the 
expenses  of  the  journey.  In  Lima,  moreover,  the  co- 
operation of  a large  number  of  persons  connected  with 
the  Tribunal  tended  to  keep  their  zeal  alert,  while  the 
commissary  in  Santiago,  surrounded  by  influences  to  a 
certain  extent  hostile  to  the  Inquisition,  became  inevitably 
negligent  and  indifferent  in  his  undertaking  ; and  this 
was  a ground  of  advantage  enjoyed  by  the  accused 
Chileans. 

During  the  early  decades  of  the  Inquisition,  a large 
number  of  the  persons  accused  were  ecclesiastics.  As 
already  suggested,  they  abused  in  a most  vile  and  scandal- 
ous manner  the  trust  reposed  in  them  by  women  presenting 
themselves  for  confession.  From  this  point  of  view,  one 
of  the  functions  of  the  Tribunal  might  seem  to  be  to  hold 
in  decent  restraint  the  members  of  the  clergy  who  had 

1 For  a list  of  these  cases  in  Santiago,  see  Medina,  Inquisicidn  en 
Chile,  i.  265-284. 

VOL.  I. 


2 A 


370  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


been  appointed  to  be  the  moral  and  spiritual  guides  of  the 
communities  in  which  they  lived. 

There  appear  to  have  been  no  Chileans  in  the  first 
auto-de-fe  held  in  Lima,  November  15,  1573  ; but  for  the 
second,  celebrated  April  13,  1578,  and  for  many  of  the 
subsequent  celebrations,  Chile  sent  a number  of  victims. 
The  inquisitors  at  the  time  of  the  auto-de-fe  of  1592  were 
Antonio  Gutierrez  de  Ulloa  and  Juan  Ruiz  de  Prado. 
They  ordered  all  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  who  were 
not  unavoidably  detained,  to  repair  to  the  quarters  of 
the  Inquisition  in  order  to  accompany  the  standard  of  the 
faith  to  the  place  of  execution  ; but  the  members  of  the 
audiencia  and  of  the  cabildos  and  the  viceroy  might  go 
directly  to  the  meeting.  The  hour  for  beginning  the 
ceremony  was  five  o’clock  in  the  morning.  There  were 
forty-one  “ penitents,”  who  had  place  in  the  procession, 
and  they  were  accompanied  by  familiars  and  members  of 
the  religious  orders.  The  procession  was  guarded  on  both 
sides  by  soldiers.  Having  arrived  at  the  place  of  execu- 
tion, all  the  high  ecclesiastics  and  officials,  the  members 
of  the  cabildos  of  the  city  and  of  the  university,  the  vice- 
roy, and  the  vicereine  took  the  places  of  honour  that  had 
been  prepared  for  them.  After  a sermon  preached  by  a 
brother  of  the  viceroy,  and  the  degradation  of  a con- 
demned friar  by  the  archbishop,  the  cases  of  the  accused 
were  brought  forward  and  read. 

This  auto-de-fe  is  noteworthy  for  the  number  of 
Englishmen  who  appeared  among  the  forty-one  prisoners. 
Four  of  these  were  pirates  or  freebooters,  who  had  been 
captured  on  the  island  of  Puna.  Their  names,  translated 
from  the  evidently  corrupted  forms  in  the  records,  appear 
to  have  been  Walter  Tillert,  Edward  Tillert,  Henry  Oxley, 
and  Andrew  Morley.  It  was  charged  against  the  first  that 
he  was  a Lutheran  ; that  on  their  ship  he  had  taken  the 
place  of  the  chaplain,  whenever  that  officer  was  unable  to 
perform  his  duties.  Edward  Tillert,  his  half-brother,  a 
youth  of  twenty-one,  affirmed  that  he  had  been  a Lutheran, 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  371 

but  that  after  his  imprisonment  he  had  become  a Catholic. 
It  was,  however,  maintained  that  he  had  fallen  away  from 
this  faith.  Oxley  was  pertinacious  in  his  Protestantism, 
and,  like  the  brothers  Tillert,  was  binned  alive.  Morley 
was  the  youngest,  only  about  eighteen.  He  had  been 
placed  in  a Jesuit  college,  but  was  afterwards  transferred 
to  a prison.  Here  he  confessed  that  he  had  been  a Protes- 
tant before  he  entered  the  monastery,  but  that  he  had 
become  a Catholic.  He  was  “ reconciled,”  and  confined 
under  the  authority  of  the  Jesuits  for  two  years.  The 
punishment  of  these  persons  was  apparently  not  inflicted 
because  they  were  pirates  invading  .Spain’s  dominions, 
but  because  their  faith  was  not  of  the  kind  approved  in 
Spain.1 

Religious  faith  in  that  age  did  not  appear  to  the 
English  mind  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  piracy  which 
that  nation  carried  on  along  the  shores  of  South  America. 
The  leader  of  the  squad  that  landed  at  Coquimbo  from 
Drake’s  ship  in  1578  was  killed,  and  his  body  left  by  his 
companions  on  shore.  The  Spaniards  found  in  the  breast 
pocket  of  the  dead  man  a book  with  many  marginal 
quotations  from  the  Bible,  and  this  was  taken  by  the 
corregidor  and  solemnly  burned.  In  fact,  the  really  grave 
offence  committed  by  the  English  pirates  was  not  “ their 
coming  to  disturb  the  peace  and  commerce  of  the  Spanish 
colonies,  but  the  influence  they  exerted  in  spreading  the 
ideas  which  they  brought  with  them.”  2 

The  wish  that  the  colonists  might  not  depart  from  the 
faith  of  Spain  led  to  extraordinary  acts  of  prohibition. 
As  early  as  1531,  the  queen  having  been  informed  that 
many  romances  and  profane  histories,  like  those  of  Amadis, 
had  been  taken  to  the  Indies,  ordered  that  no  one  should 
send  to  the  Indies  any  books  on  history  or  profane  sub- 
jects, but  only  such  books  as  dealt  with  the  Christian 
religion.  A few  years  later,  Charles  V showed  an  equal 

1 Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  i.  355-359. 

2 Ibid.,  i.  360. 


372  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

desire  to  preserve  the  faith  of  the  colonists  from  con- 
tamination. “ No  persons  who  had  been  ‘ reconciled,’ 
no  sons  or  nephews  of  persons  who  had  been  burned,  no 
Jews  or  newly  converted  Moors  ” should  go  to  the  Indies.1 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  in  Lima, 
Philip  II,  by  a decree  of  July  20,  1574,  ordered  the  Bishop 
of  Quito,  the  Archbishop  of  Lima,  and  other  prelates  in 
America  to  watch  with  great  care,  and  inquire  with  all 
secrecy  and  find  out  if  in  their  dioceses  there  were  any  of 
the  disguised  Lutheran  preachers  who  had  embarked  for 
America.  According  to  Medina,  this  document  was  not 
transmitted  to  the  inquisitors,  but  it  required  that  the 
Bishop  of  Quito  should  order  his  vicars  residing  at  the 
seaports  to  exercise  great  care  to  prevent  foreigners  from 
landing  from  any  ship.  If  any  succeeded  in  landing, 
they  should  be  sent  to  the  capitol  to  be  examined  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  ordinances  of  the  king.  But  arresting 
foreigners  and  bringing  them  to  trial  was  not  the  least  of 
the  functions  of  the  Inquisition  ; for  if  they  were  English 
or  Dutch,  as  they  were  quite  likely  to  be,  the  presumption 
was  that  they  were  heretics.  Still,  the  personal  opinions 
of  the  heretical  pirates  were  not  the  only  source  of  danger 
to  the  faith  of  the  Indies,  for  which  the  foreigners  were 
responsible.  The  books  they  brought  with  them  were 
even  more  to  be  feared  than  the  tales  and  romances  that 
had  already  been  condemned.  Consequently  the  gover- 
nors, the  justices,  the  archbishops,  and  bishops  were  to 
collect  all  the  books,  which  the  heretics  had  brought  or 
might  bring  to  the  colonies,  and,  in  so  far  as  possible,  pre- 
vent the  introduction  of  any  foreign  books  in  the  future.2 

1 Real  cldula  of  August  22,  1534,  quoted  by  Medina,  Inquisicidn 
en  Chile,  i.  361. 

2 Among  the  laws  in  the  Recopilacidn  de  leyes  de  las  Indias  relating 
to  the  printing  and  sale  of  books  in  the  Indies,  that  of  September  21, 
1556,  provides  that  the  judges  and  justices  " shall  not  permit  any 
book  to  be  printed  or  sold  which  treats  of  subjects  relating  to  the 
Indies,  without  having  a special  licence  issued  by  the  Council  of  the 
Indies;  and  they  shall  cause  to  be  collected  and  shall  collect  and 
send  to  that  body  all  the  books  which  they  shall  find,  and  no  printer 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  373 


Although  the  Spanish  authorities  had  no  vital  objec- 
tion to  sending  books  of  devotion  to  America,  yet  they 
hedged  the  process  about  with  so  many  forms,  ordering 
each  book  to  be  specially  registered,  together  with  a 
declaration  of  its  subject-matter,  that  this  requirement 
amounted  to  an  almost  absolute  legal  prohibition  ; and 
this  would  have  been  the  practical  result  if  the  law  had 
been  strictly  executed.  But  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
ships  arriving  in  American  ports  were  searched  to  deter- 

may  print,  hold,  or  sell  them,  under  penalty  of  200,000  maravedis 
and  the  loss  of  his  printing  office”  (lib.  i.  tit.  xxiv.  ley  1).  This  was 
virtually  an  act  or  prohibition  ; for  if  manuscripts  had  been  sent  to 
Spain  to  be  examined  by  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  they  would  prob- 
ably have  been  either  lost  or  held  so  long  as  effectively  to  discourage 
their  publication.  Moreover,  the  cost  of  printing  in  the  colonies  was 
in  itself  a sufficient  hindrance  to  publication.  According  to  Padre 
Melendez,  the  author  of  Tesoro  verdadero  de  Indias,  as  much  could 
be  done  in  printing  with  a hundred  dollars  in  Madrid  as  with  a thou- 
sand dollars  in  Peru  ( Nueva  Revista  de  Buenos  Aires,  viii.  339).  But 
if  an  American  author  had  printed  a book  in  Spain  or  some  other 
European  country,  there  were  serious  obstacles  to  the  return  of  the 
printed  copies  to  America  ; for  it  was  provided  that  no  printed  book 
treating  of  Indian  subjects,  whether  issued  in  Spain  or  a foreign 
country,  could  be  taken  to  the  Indies  until  it  had  been  examined  and 
approved  by  the  Council  of  the  Indies.  The  penalty  for  violation 
of  this  law  was  loss  of  the  book  and  50,000  maravedis  (Leyes  de  Indias, 
lib.  i.  tit.  xxiv.  ley  2). 

The  ecclesiastical  authorities  naturally  favoured  the  production  of 
religious  works  as  well  as  grammars  and  dictionaries  of  the  native 
languages,  and  the  authors  of  such  books  apparently  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  securing  support  for  their  publication.  But  according  to  a 
law  of  Philip  II,  issued  in  1584,  no  grammar  or  dictionary  of  an 
Indian  language  might  be  printed  or  used  except  after  an  ex- 
amination by  the  ordinary  and  approval  by  the  royal  audiencia 
of  the  district  (Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  i.  tit.  xxiv.  ley  3).  Many  books 
of  this  character  were,  however,  published  without  reference  to 
this  legal  requirement.  Forty  years  earlier,  September  29,  1543, 
Charles  V had  ordered  the  viceroys,  the  audiencias,  and  the  governors 
to  prevent  the  printing,  selling,  holding,  or  the  bringing  into  their 
districts  of  books  of  fiction  treating  of  profane  subjeccs,  and  to  pro- 
vide that  neither  Spaniards  nor  Indians  should  read  them.  This 
legislation  was  designed  to  prevent  the  publication,  sale,  and  reading 
of  the  romances  of  chivalry,  which  appear  to  have  had  a demoralising 
influence  on  the  spirit  of  the  Spaniards.  At  least  this  was  a view 
largely  entertained  in  Spain,  for,  in  1555,  the  Cortes  asked  that  the 
prohibition  which  had  been  decreed  with  reference  to  Spanish  America 
might  be  applied  to  the  inhabitants  of  Spain  itself.  Don  Quijote  had 


374  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

mine  if  they  carried  prohibited  books,  many  publications 
reached  the  colonists  by  illegal  channels,  so  that  certain 
important  private  libraries  were  formed  in  the  colonics 
before  the  end  of  the  period  of  Spanish  domination. 

To  provide  against  the  evil  influence  of  books  that 
might  be  smuggled  into  American  possessions,  the  vice- 
roys, presidents,  and  judges  were  required  to  exercise  the 
necessary  diligence  to  find  all  condemned  books,  and  if 
any  were  discovered,  to  deliver  them  to  the  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  other  authorised  persons  in  behalf  of  the 
Inquisition. 

The  monastery  of  San  Lorenzo  el  Real  had  the  privi- 
lege of  printing  certain  prayer-books  and  other  books  to 
be  used  in  worship,  but  these  books  could  not  be  imported 
into  the  colonies  without  the  special  permission  of  the 
monastery.  If  it  seemed  necessary  to  place  restrictions 
on  the  introduction  of  books  printed  under  the  direction 
of  the  monastery,  the  most  extreme  care  might  be  ex- 
pected with  reference  to  the  smuggling  of  heretics  ; and 
the  heretical  pirates  were  a source  of  constant  fear.  This 
fear  was  not  based  entirely  on  the  fact  that  they  might 
plunder  Spanish- American  cities  ; they  were  feared  also 
because  they  might  bring  heretical  books  to  the  colonies  ; 
and  by  a law  of  Philip  III,  issued  at  Madrid,  February  2, 
1609,  the  governors  and  justices  were  commanded,  and 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  were  implored,  to  collect  all 
the  books  which  heretics  might  have  brought,  or  might 
bring,  into  the  country,  and  to  use  all  possible  means  to 

not  appeared  at  that  time.  The  first  part  was  published  in  1605, 
virtually  at  the  end  of  the  period  of  the  chivalresque  romances. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  opinion  expressed 
by  Byron  in  Don  Juan  as  to  the  influence  of  these  romances  on  Spain  : 

" Cervantes  smiled  Spain’s  chivalry  away  ; 

A single  laugh  demolished  the  right  arm 
Of  his  own  country  ; — seldom  since  that  day 

Has  Spain  had  heroes.  While  Romance  could  charm, 

The  world  gave  ground  before  her  bright  array  ; 

And  therefore  have  his  volumes  done  such  harm, 

That  all  their  glory,  as  a composition, 

Was  dearly  purchased  by  his  land’s  perdition.” — Canto  13,  xi. 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  375 

prevent  their  distribution  to  the  detriment  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Faith  of  the  king’s  vassals. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
viceroy  and  presidents  were  ordered  by  royal  decree  to 
issue  no  licence  in  their  districts  for  the  printing  of  a 
book  on  any  subject  whatsoever,  except  after  it  had  been 
censured  in  accordance  with  law  and  custom,  and  then 
under  the  condition  that  twenty  copies  of  each  book 
should  be  sent  to  his  Majesty’s  secretaries  in  the  service 
of  the  Council  of  the  Indies.1 

It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  plan  of  the  Dutch 
to  establish  themselves  at  Valdivia,  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  should  have  created  a genuine  panic 
among  those  who  had  been  charged  with  the  control  of 
the  colonies  ; and  even  the  sending  of  the  French  en- 
gineer, Frezier,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  was  believed 
to  involve  “ the  danger  of  introducing  heresy  into  the 
country,  whose  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  resplendent 
in  its  purity.”  2 

Two  Dutchmen,  who  had  been  attached  to  Frezier ’s 
expedition,  appeared  to  be  especially  feared  ; for  they 
had  deserted  and  remained  in  the  country.  In  view  of 
the  danger  that  seemed  to  threaten  “ the  purity  of  our 
Catholic  religion,”  from  the  importation  of  books,  the 
king  was  aroused  somewhat  later,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  to  issue  a decree  that  no  one 
should  “ hinder  or  interrupt  the  free  exercise  and  juris- 
diction of  the  Holy  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition,  so  strongly 
recommended  by  the  Apostolic  See,  and  by  the  kings,  my 
ancestors  ; and  that  its  agents  should  visit  all  ships  that 
might  arrive  at  the  ports  of  my  dominions,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  introduction  of  any  kind  of  books  that  may 
be  opposed  to  the  truth  of  our  sacred  religion.”  The 
coming  of  heretics  and  of  heretical  books  inspired  a terror 

1 Leyes  de  Indias,  lib.  i.  tit.  xxiv.  leyes  4-15. 

2 Carta  del  oidor  Don  Diego  de  Zuniga  y Tobar,  October  15,  1704  : 
quoted  by  Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile , i.  367  ; see  Frezier,  Voyage , 95. 


376  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


which  this  age  can  hardly  appreciate,  but  which  in  the 
minds  of  the  Spaniards  of  that  time  justified  not  only 
the  existence  and  absolute  power  of  the  Inquisition,  but 
also  the  inhuman  cruelty  that  mark  its  activity.1 


IV 

In  the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
faithful  in  Chile  and  elsewhere  in  South  America  feared 
the  spread  of  Judaism.  A certain  ground  for  this  fear 
was  found  in  the  increasing  number  of  Portuguese  immi- 
grants, many  of  whom  were  Jews.  They  entered  Peru 
from  all  sides,  and  in  the  course  of  time  they  acquired 
sufficient  influence  to  control  the  commerce  of  Lima.2 
This  state  of  things  led  the  king  to  inquire  into  the  ad- 
visability of  establishing  a new  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition 
in  the  province  of  Tucuman,  and  moved  the  inquisitors 
to  call  for  the  severest  measures  of  repression.  New 
prisons  were  constructed  to  contain  the  prisoners  now 
arrested  in  greater  numbers  than  ever  before  ; and  soon 
these  were  found  to  be  inadequate,  and  attempts  were 
made  to  rent  other  buildings  in  Lima  that  might  serve  as 
prisons  for  the  suspects  who  could  not  be  confined  else- 
where. 

It  would  not  be  profitable,  if  it  were  possible,  to  set 
forth  the  torments  suffered  by  these  prisoners  at  the 
hands  of  the  inquisitors,  or  to  attempt  to  determine  to 
what  extent  a desire  for  their  wealth  led  to  the  arrest  of 
certain  persons,  and  moved  the  Inquisition  to  inflict  upon 

1 The  decree  here  referred  to,  dated  February  23,  1713..  is  printed 
by  Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  i.  368. 

: " Estaba  esta  ciudad  cujada  de  ellos,  muchos  casados,  y los  mds 
solteros  ; habianse  hecho  senores  del  comercio  ; la  calle  que  llaman 
de  los  mercaderos  era  casi  suya  ; el  callejon  todo  ; y los  cajones  los 
mis ; herbian  por  las  calles  vendiendo  con  petacas,  d la  manera  que 
los  lanceros  en  esa  corte ; todos  los  mds  corrillos  de  la  plaza  eran 
suyos  ; y de  tal  suerte  se  habian  senoreado  del  trato  de  la  mercancia, 
que  desdcl  brocado  al  sayal,  y desdel  diamante  al  comino,  todo  corria 
por  sus  manos.”  See  Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  ii.  100. 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  377 

them  the  cruelties  which  they  had  to  endure.  One  of 
the  most  notable  suspects  was  Maldonado  de  Silva.  In 
1639,  he  had  been  twelve  years  in  prison.  “ The  tortures 
which  he  had  suffered  had  reduced  his  body  to  a mass  of 
bones  covered  with  a parchment-like  skin,”  as  his  execu- 
tioners said,  but  what  he  had  to  endure  did  not  affect  his 
views  or  dispose  him  to  depart  from  his  convictions. 
What  these  convictions  were  may  be  learned  from  the 
voluminous  reports  of  interviews  and  discussions  with 
him  lasting  through  all  these  years.  The  substance  of 
them  was  an  affirmation  of  the  unity  of  God  and  a denial 
of  the  reality  of  the  Trinity.  He  was  not  without  intel- 
lectual cultivation  ; he  had  been  a surgeon  in  the  city  of 
Concepcion  in  Chile,  and  was  the  son  of  a Portuguese 
physician.  Information  against  him  was  first  brought  to 
the  commissary  of  Santiago  by  his  sister,  Dona  Isabel, 
in  July  1626,  which  was,  in  effect,  that  he  was  a Jew  and 
an  observer  of  the  Law  of  Moses.  After  his  long  years 
of  imprisonment  he  appeared  in  the  procession  of  victims 
in  the  noted  auto-de-fe  of  January  23,  1639.  Fernando 
de  Montesinos,  in  his  detailed  account  of  this  auto-de-fe, 
described  him  as  appearing  “ old  and  grey  and  dejected, 
with  long  hair  and  beard,  and  with  the  books  which  he 
had  written  tied  about  his  neck.”  1 


V 

The  circumstances  of  life  in  the  colonies  were  favour- 
able to  the  rise  of  controversies  of  many  kinds.  The 
isolation,  the  lack  of  progressive  movement,  and  the 
absence  of  practical  social  issues  led  inevitably  to  bicker- 
ing and  strife  about  subjects  of  great  importance  or  of  no 
importance.  The  rivalry  of  institutions  with  respect  to 
their  powers  was  a fruitful  source  of  conflict.  Friction 
between  the  bishop  and  the  Inquisition  was  observed 

' Medina,  Inquisicidn  en  Chile,  ii.  114,  115,  142. 


378  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

almost  as  soon  as  the  Tribunal  was  organised.  The  pre- 
tensions of  the  two  parties  seemed  to  make  it  impossible 
for  them  to  exist  side  by  side  in  peace,  and  after  Tomas 
Perez  de  Santiago  became  commissary,  the  battle  in 
Chile  was  waged  with  unprecedented  activity,  and  affected 
not  only  the  relations  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  to 
one  another,  but  also  the  officials  of  the  civil  government. 
The  audiencia  of  Santiago  found  the  attitude  and  conduct 
of  the  commissary  intolerable  ; and  on  the  7th  of  May, 
1642,  it  appealed  to  the  king  against  the  acts  of  that 
official.  The  audiencia  began  its  communication  to  the 
king  with  the  statement  that  on  another  occasion  it  had 
informed  his  Majesty  that  the  conduct  of  the  commissary 
in  Chile  was  prejudicial  to  the  royal  jurisdiction  and 
power  ; and  that  at  this  time  it  was  obliged  to  renew  its 
appeal,  on  account  of  the  continuance  of  the  commissary’s 
evil  pretensions. 

This  preliminary  statement  was  followed  by  an  enu- 
meration of  the  audiencia’s  grievances  and  proposals  for 
a remedy.  After  much  deliberation  and  discussion  with 
his  council,  the  king  wrote  to  the  oidores  on  the  12th  of 
April  1645.  He  informed  them  that,  having  considered 
the  various  points  of  their  communication,  he  had  deter- 
mined to  order  the  Inquisition  to  abide  by  the  concordia, 
without  violating  any  part  of  it  or  any  other  decree  or 
letter  bearing  on  this  subject  ; that  the  Inquisition  should 
not  permit  the  commissary  of  any  city  or  province  to 
depart  from  the  ancient  customs  of  the  churches,  or 
introduce  any  changes  objectionable  to  the  ecclesiastical 
or  secular  communities.  He  ordered  also  that  the  number 
of  employees  should  be  reduced,  and  that  they  should  not 
enjoy  the  immunities  and  privileges  of  officers  of  the 
Inquisition. 

Acting  under  the  king’s  orders,  the  inquisitors  under- 
took to  set  aside  certain  practices  of  the  commissary  that 
were  in  violation  of  the  rules  and  spirit  of  the  Holy  Office. 
But  it  was  found  to  be  difficult  to  make  this  “ infatuated 


THE  INQUISITION  IN  CHILE  379 

and  intolerable  ” official  keep  within  the  limits  of  his 
proper  authority  and  the  traditions  of  the  Tribunal.  The 
inquisitors,  however,  finally  overcame  the  difficulty  by 
removing  the  unruly  and  grasping  commissary  from  office, 
and  putting  in  his  place  the  archdeacon  of  the  cathedral, 
Francisco  Machado  de  Chavez,  a declared  enemy  of  Perez 
de  Santiago,  the  deposed  commissary.  Under  the  new 
commissary,  there  were  few  arrests,  and  there  was  appar- 
ently a temporary  reaction  from  the  severe  punishments 
that  had  been  previously  inflicted.  One  case  which  ap- 
peared in  the  middle  of  the  century  is  especially  note- 
worthy : 1.  On  account  of  the  position  which  the  offender 
held.  2.  Because  he  was  the  first  Jesuit  from  Chile  to 
be  brought  before  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition.  3. 
Because  of  the  shamelessness  of  his  conduct  with  women 
in  the  confessional  and  out  of  it,  in  using  the  church  as 
a house  of  illicit  assignation,  and  in  continuing  his  libertin- 
ism over  a series  of  years.1 

The  sentence  itself  was  less  severe  than  the  criminal’s 
contemporaries  thought  the  gravity  of  the  crimes  de- 
manded. It  consisted  of  penitential  exercises  and  re- 
strictions, such  as  repeating  certain  psalms,  fasting  on 
Saturday  for  a number  of  years  ; and  of  a prohibition  to 
return  to  Chile.  The  decree  of  banishment  for  four  years 
from  the  archbishopric  of  Lima  originally  issued  was 
withdrawn  in  favour  of  a substitute,  which  required  a 
daily  prayer  of  the  entire  rosary  for  a period  of  four  years. 
The  offender  was,  however,  accorded  the  privilege  of 
visiting  and  instructing  the  Indians  in  the  hospital  of 
Santa  Ana,  and  of  attending  the  dying. 

The  leniency  shown  the  criminal  in  this  case  is  an 


1 The  long  list  of  offences  for  which  a sentence  was  rendered,  was 
presented  by  Bernardo  de  Eizaguirre,  the  fiscal  of  the  Holy  Office. 
The  accusation,  involving  a statement  of  these  offences,  is  printed, 
with  other  documents,  in  Medina’s  Inquisiridn  en  Chile,  ii.  233-247, 
as  the  author  of  that  work  says,  “ without  comment,  but  with  the 
passages  that  might  not  be  transcribed  in  Spanish  translated  into 
Latin.” 


380  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

indication  that  the  officers  of  the  Inquisition  were  not 
disposed  to  impose  very  severe  punishments  on  the  mem- 
bers of  the  clergy  for  moral  delinquency.  Other  evidence 
would  also  seem  to  show  that  the  Tribunal  in  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century  had  already  lost  some  of  its 
efficiency  as  a guardian  of  clerical  morality,  although  still 
vigorous  in  defence  of  orthodox  belief. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  IN  THE  LAST  DE- 
CADES OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 

I.  The  third  provincial  council  of  Lima.  II.  Sarmiento  and  Caven- 
dish in  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  III.  Prosperity.  IV.  Anti- 
alcabala  riots  in  Quito.  V.  Carvajal’s  monopoly  of  the  post. 

I 

Martin  Enriquez  was  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  when  he 
was  appointed,  in  1580,  to  succeed  Francisco  de  Toledo. 
He  brought  to  his  new  position  the  prestige  of  distin- 
guished birth,  and  of  the  high  office  from  which  he  was 
transferred  to  Peru.  He  was  already  advanced  beyond 
the  years  of  most  effective  service,  and  his  brief  reign  was 
closed  by  his  death  less  than  two  years  after  he  arrived 
in  Lima.  During  this  period  affairs  of  the  Church  at- 
tracted much  attention.  An  auto-de-fe  was  celebrated 
on  the  29th  of  October  1581,  and  the  next  year  was 
marked  by  the  begininng  of  a provincial  council  in  Lima, 
under  the  presidency  of  Archbishop  Toribio  Alfonso 
Mogrobejo  y Robles,  who  is  usually  known  as  Saint  Toribio. 
The  letter  of  convocation  for  this  council,  issued  August 
15,  1581,  was  addressed  to  the  ten  suffragan  bishops  : 
those  of  Panama,  Nicaragua,  Cuzco,  Popayan,  Quito,  La 
Plata  (Chuquisaca),  Santiago  de  Chile,  La  Imperial  de 
Chile,  Paraguay,  and  Tucuman.  They  were  summoned 
to  meet  on  August  15,  1582.  The  assembly  that  was 
formed  on  this  date  embraced,  besides  the  bishops,  the 
viceroy,  the  audiencia,  the  ecclesiastical  and  secular 
cabildos,  the  procuradores  of  the  other  cathedrals  of  the 

kingdom,  the  clergy,  the  regular  prelates,  the  masters 

381 


382  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

and  doctors  of  theology  and  of  other  sciences,  and  a number 
of  other  men  distinguished  by  their  virtue  and  learning. 
They  went  in  solemn  procession  from  the  Dominican 
church  to  the  cathedral.  The  bishops  of  Quito,  La  Plata, 
and  Tucuman  arrived  later,  and  those  of  Panama,  Popa- 
yan,  and  Nicaragua  were  not  present  at  any  time,  on 
account  of  the  great  distance,  or  because  the  sees  were 
vacant. 

Part  of  the  work  undertaken  by  the  council  was  made 
necessary  by  the  long  vacancy  in  the  archbishopric, 
which  extended  from  the  death  of  Loayza,  in  1575,  to 
the  arrival  of  Saint  Toribio,  in  1581.  This  was  the  third 
provincial  council  of  Lima.  A fourth  was  held  in  1591, 
and  a fifth  in  1598.  The  distance  from  the  court  and 
the  infrequent  communication  made  it  necessary  for  the 
ecclesiastical  as  well  as  the  political  authorities  to  assume 
a large  measure  of  independence.  Somewhat  of  this  in- 
dependence was  manifest  in  the  action  of  the  third  council, 
which  issued  a catechism  for  the  instruction  of  the  Indians, 
arranged  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  called  to  account 
ecclesiastics  whose  conduct  was  not  approved.1 

The  government  of  the  audiencia  followed  that  of 
Viceroy  Enriquez,  and  was  continued  until  the  arrival  of 
Fernando  Torres  y Portugal,  November  25,  1585.  It  was 
characterised  by  the  ordinary  weaknesses  of  a collegiate 
executive.  In  view  of  the  great  ex  ent  of  the  viceroyalty, 
the  diverse  interests  of  the  different  parts,  and  the  reluc- 
tance of  other  audiencias  to  subordinate  themselves  to  the 
audiencia  of  Lima,  this  audiencia  was  unable  to  maintain 
an  effective  government,  or  to  complete  the  execution  of 
Toledo’s  plans,  which  were  designed  to  order  and  estab- 
lish the  institutions  of  the  viceroyalty.  Favoured  by 
this  weakness  of  the  secular  government,  the  ecclesiastical 
organisation  grew  in  strength,  and  manifested  a disposi- 
tion to  allow  its  influence  to  be  felt  in  secular  affairs. 


1 Mendiburu,  vii.  221-230. 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  383 


II 

To  the  last  half  of  the  decade  from  1580  to  1590  be- 
longs the  disastrous  result  of  the  attempt  to  settle  the 
region  about  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  When  Sarmiento, 
whom  Toledo  had  sent  to  the  Strait,  in  1579,  to  intercept 
Drake,  was  disappointed  in  this  undertaking,  he  deter- 
mined to  examine  the  coasts  of  the  Strait  in  order  to  find 
out  the  most  suitable  place  for  fortifications.  Then, 
having  completed  his  survey,  he  sailed  for  Spain,  where 
he  arrived  in  August  1580.  After  he  had  made  his  report, 
the  king  determined  to  fortify  and  guard  the  Strait.  An 
expedition  of  twenty-four  ships  and  two  thousand  men 
was  organised  under  the  direction  of  General  Diego  Flores 
de  Valdes  and  Sarmiento.  The  latter  was  to  be  the 
superintendent  of  the  establishments  to  be  formed.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  voyage,  the  fleet  encountered  a 
severe  storm.  Several  of  the  ships  were  lost,  while  some 
of  the  others  were  badly  damaged  and  turned  back  to 
Spain.  Sarmiento  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Strait  with 
four  ships  in  January  1583.  He  selected  a place  for  a 
fort,  left  there  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  continued 
his  explorations.  At  a narrow  part  of  the  Strait,  he 
founded  a town,  which  he  called  San  Felipe.  From  this 
point  he  turned  back  with  his  four  vessels  in  order  to 
return  to  Spain.  Off  the  coast  of  Brazil,  he  encountered 
an  English  squadron,  which  gave  battle,  and  either  de- 
stroyed or  captured  all  that  remained  of  the  great  ex- 
pedition. Sarmineto  was  liberated  later,  but  only  to 
suffer  ill-fortune  the  rest  of  his  days.  The  misfortunes 
which  attended  this  enterprise  were  not  due  entirely  to 
storms  and  English  hostility.  Jealousy  made  it  impos- 
sible for  the  leaders  to  act  in  harmony.  Before  Flores  de 
Valdes  returned  to  Spain,  he  disembarked  six  hundred 
men  at  Buenos  Aires,  who  went  overland  to  Chile  with 


384  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

Governor  Alonso  de  Sotomayor,  crossing  the  cordillera 
from  Mendoza.1 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Viceroy  Torres  y Portugal, 
in  1587,  that  Thomas  Cavendish,  following  the  exploits  of 
Drake,  entered  the  Strait  of  Magellan  with  three  vessels 
and  a hundred  and  twenty-three  men.  Of  the  company 
left  by  Sarmiento  at  San  Filipe,  only  one,  Fernando 
Gomez,  remained  to  tell  the  tale  of  misery  and  starvation. 
In  more  than  three  years  they  had  received  no  assistance 
from  either  Spain  or  Peru.  They  had  planted  seeds  which 
they  had  brought  with  them,  but  at  that  latitude  there 
was  little  or  no  product.  A party  of  twenty-three  persons, 
two  of  whom  were  women,  had  left  San  Filipe  in  search  of 
an  inhabited  region,  but  nothing  is  known  of  their  fate. 
Cavendish  passed  through  the  Strait,  and  reached  the  port 
of  Quintero,  about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Valparaiso, 
in  April,  1587.  The  news  of  his  arrival  spread  rapidly 
throughout  Chile,  but  the  alarm  with  which  it  was  re- 
ceived was  soon  abated  by  the  recollection  of  the  repulse 
Drake  had  suffered  near  Coquimbo.  The  people  formed 
companies  for  defence,  and  at  Arica  prevented  the  at- 
tacking party  from  making  rich  booty  of  a quantity  of 
bars  of  silver  that  had  been  deposited  near  the  landing. 
In  May,  Cavendish  sailed  northward  along  a shore  that 

1 Sarmiento’s  memorial  addressed  to  the  king,  giving  an  account 
of  the  expedition,  is  printed  in  Documentos  iniditos  (Madrid,  1864),  v. 
286;  Mendiburu,  iii.  351 ; vii.  250-254  ; Pedro  Sarmiento  de  Gamboa, 
Viaje  al  Estrecho  de  Magallanes,  en  los  anos  1579  y 1580  ; y noticia 
de  la  espedicion  que  depues  hizo  para  poblarlo.  Peralta,  Lima  Fundada, 
Canto  VII,  85,  makes  the  following  reference  to  Sarmiento’s  mission 
to  the  Strait : 

“ Aquel  que  alii  se  ofrece  es  el  Sarmiento, 

Nuevo  Teseo  del  austral  undoso 
Laberinto  del  liquido  elemento, 

Minotauro  de  espumas  proceloso  : 

Al  Draque  ird  a impedir  el  fiero  intento  ; 

Y demarcado  el  Bosforo  sinuoso, 

Domando  el  golfo  con  triunfante  entena, 

Su  capitolio  hard  la  hesperia  arena.” 

See  also  Canto  V,  42. 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  385 

was  practically  undefended.  He  took  a ship  in  the  port 
of  Callao,  sacked  Paita,  and  off  the  coast  of  California 
captured  a vessel  from  Manila,  which  was  loaded  with 
valuable  articles  from  China.  In  returning  to  England 
he  touched  at  the  Ladrone  Islands,  the  Philippines,  Java, 
St.  Helena,  and  the  Azores. 

The  incursions  of  the  English  induced  the  viceroy  to 
place  a garrison  at  Callao.  But  pirates  were  not  the 
greatest  affliction  which  the  inhabitants  suffered.  An 
epidemic  of  smallpox  ravaged  the  country.  It  was  ren- 
dered more  destructive  by  the  fatalism  of  the  people. 
They  regarded  it  as  a divine  infliction,  and  made  no  effort 
to  avoid  contagion.  They  died  by  scores  and  hundreds. 
Villages  were  depopulated.  Corpses  were  scattered  over 
the  fields  or  piled  up  in  the  houses  or  huts.  All  branches 
of  industrial  activity  were  paralysed.  The  fields  were  un- 
cultivated ; the  herds  were  untended ; and  the  work- 
shops and  the  mines  were  without  labourers.  It  was  only 
with  difficulty  that  the  ships  could  be  manned.  The  price 
of  food  rose  to  such  an  extent  that  many  persons  found  it 
beyond  their  reach.  They  escaped  the  foul  disease,  but 
only  to  be  wasted  by  famine.1 


Ill 

In  spite  of  earthquakes,  pirates,  smallpox,  and  a 
superannuated  viceroy,  the  colony  increased  in  wealth  and 
general  prosperity.  Arequipa  and  Piura,  which  had  been 
thrown  down,  were  reconstructed  ; and  the  progress  of 
Lima  became  manifest  in  the  increasing  number  of  its 
inhabitants  and  the  development  of  cultivation  through 
the  influence  of  the  university.  The  principal  factor  of 
this  progress  was  the  wealth  derived  from  the  mines  of 
Upper  Peru,  and  in  this  region  the  signs  of  social  growth 
were  more  evident  than  elsewhere.  These  mines  pro- 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru  bajo  la  dinastia  auslriaca,  357. 

VOL.  I.  2 B 


386  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

duced  vast  quantities  of  silver  during  the  last  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  this  abundant  wealth  attracted 
seekers  after  fortune  not  only  from  Spain,  but  also  from 
other  parts  of  America.  Potosi,  to  which  the  mint  had 
been  transferred  from  Lima,  and  La  Plata,  which  was  the 
seat  of  an  audiencia,  outgrew  most  of  the  cities  of  South 
America.  Lima  had  always  the  attraction  which  be- 
longed to  it  as  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  the  seat  of  the 
viceroy’s  court,  the  residence  of  the  aristocracy,  and  the 
centre  of  the  ecclesiastical  organisation.  The  attraction 
of  the  mines  overcame  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  the 
growth  of  cities  on  the  Peruvian  highlands.  On  the 
great  Andean  plateau,  they  were  twelve  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  in  an  inhospitable  climate, 
with  difficult  access  to  fuel  and  wrater,  yet  they  became 
the  most  important  early  centres  of  civilisation  in  South 
America,  and  presented  many  of  the  conditions  of  European 
life  ; w'hile  the  towns  that  had  to  rely  on  agriculture  or 
pastoral  industries  were  either  stagnant  or  grew  slowly. 

But  while  both  the  wealth  and  the  population  of  the 
country  were  increasing,  there  were  many  indications  that 
the  political  administration  was  weak.  The  viceroy  and 
the  Inquisition  were  not  in  accord ; the  royal  finances  were 
badly  administered  ; the  country  was  infested  with  run- 
away slaves  ; vagabond  Indians  hung  about  the  suburbs 
of  the  towns  ; and  the  provinces  suffered  under  a plague 
of  reckless  adventurers.  In  view  of  this  state  of  things, 
the  king  was  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  Peru,  particu- 
larly when  he  appreciated  its  defenceless  condition  after 
the  destruction  of  his  invincible  Armada.  He  had  no 
reason  to  expect  improvement  under  Fernando  de  Torres, 
Count  of  Villar,  and  he  appointed  Garcia  Hurtado  de 
Mendoza  to  supersede  him  in  1590.  Mendoza  had  been 
governor  of  Chile  while  his  father  was  the  viceroy  of 
Peru,  and  nowT,  as  the  Marquis  of  Canete,  he  returned  to 
direct  the  affairs  of  a more  or  less  disorganised  kingdom.1 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peru,  bajo  la  dinastia  austriaca,  360. 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  387 


IV 

The  mines  of  Peru,  and  those  of  Mexico  as  well,  poured 
vast  quantities  of  silver  into  the  Spanish  treasury,  yet  the 
government  of  Spain  in  the  last  decades  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  drifting  steadily  towards  bankruptcy.  To 
meet  the  needs  of  the  State,  recourse  was  had  to  various 
imposts  designed  to  increase  the  royal  revenues  from 
America.  Of  these,  the  alcabala,  which  was  now  imposed 
at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  all  articles  sold, 
proved  to  be  the  most  burdensome.  It  had  been  intro- 
duced into  Spain  to  provide  funds  for  the  support  of  the 
war  against  the  Moors.  A sufficient  excuse  for  its  im- 
position in  Peru  was  found  in  the  incursions  of  the  pirates. 
In  Quito,  it  provoked  insurrection.  The  decree  estab- 
lishing it  was  published  there  in  1592.  The  ayunta- 
miento  opposed  the  execution  of  the  decree,  and  found 
many  partisans  among  the  people.  The  judges  who  were 
disposed  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  Crown  found 
themselves  overwhelmed  in  a storm  of  popular  indig- 
nation. They  were  threatened  with  assassination,  and 
were  induced  by  the  Jesuits  to  take  advantage  of  the 
asylum  offered  by  the  churches  and  monasteries.  The 
insurgents  obtained  complete  control  of  the  city.  They 
placed  guards  about  the  monastery  and  the  church  of 
San  Francisco,  in  which  the  officials  had  taken  refuge, 
and  attempted  by  the  most  severe  measures  to  prevent 
the  introduction  of  food.  In  their  revolutionary  enthu- 
siasm, they  determined  to  proclaim  their  independence, 
and  to  send  a commissioner  to  London  to  solicit  money 
and  arms. 

In  the  frenzy  of  victory,  they  proclaimed  Diego  Carrera 
king.  He  was  a man  of  intelligence,  and  was  esteemed 
by  all  classes.  He  saw  not  only  the  danger  but  also  the 
folly  of  their  undertaking,  and  declined  the  proffered 


388  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 


crown.  He  expressed  emphatically  his  determination  to 
remain  loyal  to  his  sovereign.  Enraged  by  this  attitude, 
the  rebels  stripped  him  to  the  belt,  placed  him  on  an  ass, 
andcarried  him  in  procession  through  the  streets,  one  person 
after  another  flogging  him  until  they  left  him  for  dead. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  folly  and  madness,  the  Jesuits 
appear  to  have  maintained  their  sanity.  They  surrepti- 
tiously provided  the  imprisoned  officials  with  food  and 
water,  and  made  all  possible  efforts  to  establish  peace  and 
order,  and  to  induce  the  people  to  submit  to  the  legitimate 
government. 

When  the  viceroy  learned  of  these  events,  he  sent  to 
Quito  a force  of  three  hundred  men,  under  Pedro  Arana  ; 
but,  before  their  arrival,  peace  had  been  restored,  and 
Arana  was  able  to  enter  the  city  without  encountering 
any  signs  of  hostility.  He  instituted  legal  proceedings 
against  the  guilty  persons,  abolished  the  office  of  alcalde, 
and  sent  the  incumbents,  together  with  the  regidores, 
to  Lima,  while  the  procurador-general  was  beheaded. 
Philip  II  recognised  the  services  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
assigned  to  them  various  funds,  and  thus  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  abundant  revenues  which  they  enjoyed  in  that 
province.  Carrera  survived  the  consequences  of  his  efforts 
to  put  away  a crown,  and,  in  recognition  of  his  loyalty, 
he  was  made  Alferez  real,  and  the  office  was  given  to  be 
held  by  the  family  in  perpetuity.1 


V 

The  viceroy,  Martin  Enriquez  (1581-83),  confirmed 
Diego  Carvajal  y Vargas  in  possession  of  the  postal  system, 
in  accordance  with  his  hereditary  rights  ; for  the  postal 
service  of  the  Spanish  colonies  was  conducted,  for  a long 
period,  as  a monopoly  in  the  hands  of  a succession  of 
private  persons.  Lorenzo  Galindez  de  Carvajal,  the  first 

1 Cevallos,  Historia  del  Ecuador,  ii.  89-94. 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  389 

of  the  line,  obtained  this  privilege  in  perpetuity  from  the 
King  of  Spain.  This  distinguished  jurist  and  administra- 
tor was  born  in  Plasencia,  December  23,  1472.  His  father 
was  Diego  Gonzalez  de  Carvajal,  a priest  who  held  various 
honourable  positions  in  the  Church.  His  mother  was  a 
maiden  who  belonged  to  a noble  family.  Whatever  dis- 
abilities he  might  have  encountered  by  reason  of  his 
illegitimate  birth  were  removed  by  a letter  of  legitima- 
tion issued  by  Ferdinand  the  Catholic.1 

Galindez  de  Carvajal  studied  at  the  University  of 
Salamanca,  where  he  became  noted  for  his  persistent 
application  and  his  profound  scholarship.  He  left  the 
university  with  the  rank  of  licentiate,  and  his  attainments 
very  early  attracted  the  attention  of  the  court.  He  was 
appointed  a judge,  and  at  the  age  of  thirty  he  became  a 
member  of  the  royal  council  of  Spain.  In  accordance 
with  a request  conveyed  in  the  will  of  the  queen,  Isabella, 
he  undertook  to  collect  the  laws  of  the  realm  and  have 
them  issued  in  a systematic  form  ; but  this  work  was 
interrupted  by  his  departure  for  America  to  exercise  his 
privilege  as  postmaster-general  of  the  Indies.  This 
privilege  was  granted  to  him,  May  14,  1514.  By  the 
royal  decree  conveying  it,  Carvajal  received  the  exclusive 
right  to  despatch  posts  and  messengers  which  might  be 
necessary  in  the  “ Indies,  islands,  Tierra  Firme,  discovered 
and  to  be  discovered,  relating  to  matters  which  it  might 
be  necessary  to  send  from  one  to  another,  or,  within  the 
limits  of  these  divisions,  from  one  town  to  another  ” ; 
and  his  monopoly  extended  to  communications  between 
the  colonies  and  Spain.2 

1 Carcano,  Comunicacion  y transporte  en  la  Republica  Argentina,  i.  41. 

2 Carcano,  Comunicacion  y transporte  en  la  Republica  Argentina, 
i.  51-3.  Vida  y obras  manuscritas  del  Doctor  D.  Lorenzo  Galindez 
de  Carvajal,  del  Consejo  y Camara  de  los  Senores  Reyes  Catolicos  D. 
Fernando  y Dona  Isabel,  y Dona  Juana  y D.  Carlos,  su  hija  y nieto, 
dispuesta  para  dar  a luz  por  D.  Rafael  de  Floranes,  Manuscript  in  the 
Library  of  the  Real  Academia  de  la  Historia,  Madrid,  1 2-24-1 
Colec.  Floranes,  Tomo  X.  The  decree  conveying  this  privilege  is 
printed  in  Historia  del  Correo,  by  Edwardo  Verdegay  y Fiscowich 
(Madrid,  1894),  pp.  99-101. 

VOL.  I. 


2 B 2 


39o  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

This  grant  was  confirmed  a few  years  later  by  a decree 
issued  by  Charles  V on  the  27th  of  October  1525.  These 
two  decrees  constituted  the  basis  of  the  rights  and  title 
enjoyed  by  Carvajal  and  his  descendants.  The  monopoly 
which  they  established  was  complete,  for  there  remained 
no  ground  of  distinction  in  this  regard  between  official 
and  private  correspondence.  All  communications  of  the 
Casa  de  Contratacion,  the  officers,  the  judges,  the  gover- 
nors, the  viceroys,  and  even  of  the  King  of  Spain  had  to 
pay  postage,  and  thus  became  tributary  to  the  holder  of 
this  monopoly.  In  the  beginning  nobody  had  the  privi- 
lege of  franking  any  communication  whatsoever  ; but 
this  form  of  administrative  abuse  appeared  later,  causing 
friction  and  controversies  between  the  bureaucracy  and 
the  directors  of  the  postal  service,  the  family  of  Carvajal 
naurally  seeking  to  maintain  its  original  prerogatives. 

The  first  holder  of  this  privilege,  Dr.  Galindez  de 
Carvajal,  died  in  1527.  His  titles,  privileges,  and  pro- 
perty passed  to  his  second  son,  Diego  de  Carvajal,  his 
eldest  son  having  died  without  heirs.  Diego  de  Carvajal, 
the  second  holder  of  the  postal  monopoly,  died  in  Lima 
in  1576,  after  a long  and  somewhat  conspicuous  career. 
For  eight  generations,  from  1514  to  1768,  this  family  held 
its  rights  with  respect  to  the  postal  service  of  the  Indies. 
Its  position  was  not,  however,  unchallenged.  Some 
colonies  refused  to  recognise  the  rights  of  the  family  of 
Carvajal,  and  established  monopolies  of  their  own.  In 
other  places  the  rights  of  the  monopolist,  which  had  been 
once  recognised,  were  repudiated.  Even  where  there  was 
no  hostility  to  the  system  of  Carvajal,  it  was  sometimes 
found  that  it  failed  to  increase  its  facilities  so  as  to  keep 
pace  with  the  needs  of  the  growing  communities.  The 
rights  were  more  extensive  than  the  power  to  make  satis- 
factory use  of  them.  A single  monopoly  wras  clearly  in- 
adequate, and  the  confusion  introduced  by  more  or  less 
independent  systems  in  the  different  colonies  led  to  a 
demand  for  a service  controlled  by  the  supreme  govern- 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  391 

ment.  The  breaking  up  of  the  system  was  an  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  growth  of  the  different  colonies  to  a 
greater  degree  of  industrial  and  political  independence. 

The  postal  service  controlled  by  Carvajal  and  his 
descendants  reached  ordinarily  only  the  cities  of  Peru  and 
those  now  included  in  the  territory  of  Equador,  the  cities 
of  Lima,  Cuzco,  Potosi,  Guamanga,  Oruro,  La  Paz, 
Arequipa,  Quito,  Trujillo,  Piura,  and  such  small  towns  as 
lay  along  routes  connecting  these  places.  By  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  Mexico  and  Cuba  had  organ- 
ised postal  systems  for  their  respective  territories.  “ The 
kingdom  of  Chile  and  the  viceroyalty  of  Rio  de  la  Plata 
were  the  only  regions  of  America  which  still  remained 
without  an  organised  postal  service.” 1 Yet  in  these 
regions  there  was  need  of  means  of  communication  of 
this  kind,  but  the  need  did  not  seem  to  be  sufficiently 
imperative  to  the  successors  of  Carvajal,  to  induce  them 
to  furnish  the  facilities  required. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  like  the 
inhabitants  of  Europe  in  the  last  decades  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  had  not  acquired  the  habit  of  making  extensive 
use  of  public  postal  facilities.  Only  a small  upper  class 
had  the  cultivation  requisite  for  carrying  on  a correspon- 
dence either  with  friends  or  for  commercial  purposes  ; 
and  they  sometimes  sent  their  communications  by  occa- 
sional travellers  or  by  cart  trains  or  caravans,  or,  in  cases 
of  great  urgency,  by  special  messengers. 

During  the  last  years  of  the  century,  from  1596  to  the 
end,  Luis  de  Velasco  was  the  viceroy  of  Peru.  He  suc- 
ceeded Garda  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  Marquis  of  Canete, 
who  had  petitioned  the  king  to  be  relieved,  in  order  that 
he  might  seek  the  restoration  of  his  health  in  Europe. 
Velasco  had  been  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  an  office  which 
had  also  been  held  by  his  father.  He  left  Mexico  at 
Acapulco,  and  entered  Lima,  July  24,  1596.  Two  years 

1 Carcano,  Coniunicacion  y transpose  en  la  Republica  Argentina, 
>•  374- 


392  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

later  Philip  II  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  as 
Philip  III.  The  new  king,  without  either  the  intellec- 
tual ability  or  the  marvellous  activity  of  his  father,  in- 
herited an  empire  which  was  already  declining  through 
internal  weakness,  and  whose  rich  colonies  were  coveted 
by  the  other  nations  of  Europe.  These  colonies  were 
threatened  not  only  by  European  invaders,  but  also  by 
revolts  of  Indians.  Governor  Loyola,  of  Chile,  and  a 
small  company,  penetrating  Arauco,  were  overwhelmed 
and  destroyed  ; and  to  maintain  the  beginnings  of  civili- 
sation in  Chile,  the  viceroy  was  obliged  to  send  forces 
from  Peru.  The  Chiriguanas  of  Charcas  were  also  in  re- 
bellion. The  Portuguese,  although  their  country  was  united 
with  Spain  in  1580,  still  regarded  themselves  as  foreigners, 
and  were  a disturbing  element  in  the  affairs  of  the  colonies. 
Philip  III  was  pious,  after  the  manner  of  Spanish  princes  ; 
but  he  was  not  a statesman,  and  the  business  of  govern- 
ing his  great  empire  was  beyond  his  power.1 

Hitherto  the  authorities  of  Peru  had  received  with 
indifference  Chilean  demands  for  assistance,  but  fear 
awakened  by  the  incursions  of  Drake  and  Cavendish  led 
them  to  send  troops  to  assist  in  defending  the  colony. 
About  the  same  time  soldiers  were  sent  also  from  Spain  ; 
but,  counting  all  the  troops  available  from  all  sources, 
Governor  Sotomayor  found  his  force  inadequate  for  the 
defence  of  the  ports  and  for  his  campaigns  against  the 
Indians.  In  fact,  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  saw 
the  Spanish  arms  defeated,  and  the  Araucanians  rejoicing 
in  the  hope  of  relief  from  the  oppression  of  the  invaders. 
The  alternation  of  victory  and  defeat  which  marked  the 
campaigns  of  the  south  covered  only  a part  of  the  dealings 
of  the  Spaniards  with  the  Indians.  The  Indians  of  cen- 
tral and  northern  Chile  were  subdued  and  became  feudal 
subjects  under  Spanish  encomenderos. 

These  last  years  of  the  century  saw,  moreover,  the 

1 Lorente,  Historia  del  Peril,  1598-1700,  1-24;  Relaciones  de  los 
vireyes  y audiencias  que  han  gobernado  el  Peru  (Madrid,  1871),  ii.  3-28; 
Mendiburu,  viii.  285-294. 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  PERU  393 

feeble  beginnings  of  public  instruction  in  Chile.  The 
first  schoolmaster  was  Gonzalo  de  Segovia,  who  was  exiled 
from  Peru  for  participation  in  the  insurrection  of  Gonzalo 
Pizarro  ; but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  many  pupils, 
for  the  Spanish  settlement  in  Chile  at  the  time  of  his 
arrival  was  merely  a military  camp.  For  the  first  fourteen 
years  there  were  only  a few  women  in  the  colony  besides 
the  Indians,  and  almost  all  of  the  children  were  mestizos. 

Teachers  are  referred  to  in  the  records  of  Santiago  for 
the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  was  urged 
that  one,  Salinas,  should  be  excused  from  going  to  the 
war  against  the  Araucanians  on  the  ground  that  “ the 
city  needed  him  to  teach  the  children  of  its  inhabitants 
to  read  and  write.” 1 

Diego  Serrano  was  mentioned  as  a teacher  of  children 
in  1588,  and  at  about  the  same  time  Pedro  de  Padilla  had 
a school  “in  a house  near  the  plaza  of  the  city.”2  In 
1615,  Juan  de  Oropesa  petitioned  the  cabildo  for  autho- 
rity to  establish  a primary  school.  A few  months  later 
the  corregidor  of  the  capital  ordered  that  Oropesa’s  school 
should  be  closed,  and  that  the  pupils  should  attend  the 
school  which  the  Jesuits  had  established.  Subsequently 
Oropesa  was  permitted  to  open  a second  school,  and  a 
licence  was  also  granted  to  Torres  Padilla;  but  by  the 
middle  of  1621  both  of  these  schools  had  ceased  to  exist. 
The  municipal  authorities  then  sought  to  supply  the  need 
of  instruction,  and  to  this  end  ordered  Padilla  to  reopen 
his  school  within  eight  days,  or  suffer  the  penalty  of  a 

1 Medina,  La  Instruccidn  Publica  en  Chile,  xx. ; Historiadores  de 
Chile,  xviii.  47.  The  work  of  Medina  on  Public  Instruction  consists 
of  two  parts.  The  first  part  is  composed  principally  of  letters,  reports, 
and  decrees  which  are  connected  with  a sufficient  number  of  para- 
graphs to  make  a fairly  complete  narrative.  The  second  part  is  made 
up  entirely  of  documents  referring  to  the  establishment  of  various 
grades  of  schools  in  Chile,  covering  the  period  from  1610  to  1738. 
The  earliest  documents  in  the  second  part  of  this  collection  relate  to 
the  foundation  of  the  University  of  the  Dominicans  of  Santiago,  and 
the  latest  is  the  decree  which  constitutes  the  charter  of  the  royal 
University  of  San  Filipe. 

2 Historiadores  de  Chile,  xix.  196. 


394  THE  SPANISH  DEPENDENCIES 

heavy  fine.  But  this  arbitrary  command  does  not  appear 
to  have  produced  the  desired  result.  The  cabildo  finally 
escaped  from  its  difficulties  by  commissioning  Pedro 
Lisperguer  to  make  provision  for  the  required  instruction. 
Later  the  cabildo  was  disposed  not  only  to  support 
primary  schools  but  also  to  aid  in  the  organisation  of 
instruction  in  Latin.  In  carrying  out  its  designs  with 
respect  to  the  maintenance  of  schools  the  cabildo  was 
embarrassed  by  lack  of  funds. 

The  first  teacher  of  Chile  mentioned  as  belonging  to 
the  secular  clergy  was  Juan  Bias,  a mestizo,  who  was 
engaged  in  teaching  as  early  as  1578,  and  to  him  “ belongs 
the  glory  of  having  been  the  first  teacher  of  Latin  in 
Santiago.”  1 He  had  studied  arts  and  theology  in  Lima, 
and  had  been  ordained  as  a priest.  The  fact  that  he 
was  a mestizo  provoked  opposition  to  him,  but  his  op- 
ponents were  soon  relieved,  for  he  died  in  1590. 

A feature  of  the  early  years  of  instruction  in  Chile  was 
the  establishment  of  a seminary  for  the  education  of 
priests  who  might  serve  as  missionaries  to  the  Indians 
and  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  inferior  curacies.  At  first 
it  was  only  a project  imperfectly  carried  out,  and  the 
seminary  was  closed  in  1593.  Ten  years  later,  largely 
through  the  influence  of  Juan  Perez  de  Espinosa,  it  was 
revived  and  given  a proper  and  permanent  organisation, 
under  the  control  of  the  secular  clergy.2 

1 Medina,  Instruccidn  publica,  xl. ; Gaspar  Joro,  Primeras  escuelas 
en  Chile,  in  Revista  chilena,  xii.  422-431. 

2 For  a statement  of  the  services  of  Juan  Perez  de  Espinosa,  and  of 
his  resignation  of  the  office  of  Bishop  of  Santiago,  Lagos,  Historia  de 
las  misiones  del  colegio  de  Chilian,  i.  70-74;  Barros  Arana,  Historia  jeneral 
de  Chile,  iii.  408. 


END  OF  VOL.  I 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  <5^  Co. 
at  Paul’s  Work,  Edinburgh 


Date  Due 


